Enemies Allied
by Wingman201
Summary: As the Covenant slipspace jump to Reach, the Fleet of Particular Justice rips a hole in the inter-dimensional boundaries as Jean-Luc Picard leads the Enterprise in a retreat against the Borg. Put it this way: Who would win? The Borg or the Covenant?
1. Didn't See That Coming

_**A/N**__: _Another cooped up idea inside this wierdo head of mine. I certainly think that this concept has potential. ON TO THE FIC! (The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie, and Star Trek to CBS)

_**Chapter 1: Didn't See That Coming**_

_August 13, 2552 22:07 Hours_

_Orbit around planet Reach _

"Slipspace rupture detected."

"Gamma Station Control, reading multiple pings below the Orbital Defense Grid."

"Slipspace rupture detected."

"Yeah, we're picking up anomalies too."

"Are you reading this?"

"Slipspace rupture detected."

"Multiple Covenant signatures!"

"Slipspace rupture detected."

"Does anyone have a visual?"

"They're everywhere!"

"Oh, this can't be happening!"

"Must be the whole damn Covenant fleet!"

"Slipspace rupture detected."

* * *

_2366 Paulson Nebula_

_Enterprise-D_

"Mr. Crusher, status of the Borg cube?" Picard asked.

"Unchanged, sir. The Borg are still scanning for us." Wesley Crusher answered from his station at the helm.

Picard keyed his communicator. "Picard to Riker, how are those phaser settings coming along?"

"So far nothing new, Captain." Came the reply from his first officer, Commander William Riker. "We can still use the random modulating phaser adaptors from before, but we don't know how long those will hold up."

"Keep me informed. Picard out."

Picard drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair.

Picard's science and operations officer, the android Data, turned around. "Captain, I have discovered that certain bands of the phaser adaptors we used against the Borg before momentarily nullified the cube's power. I believe that if we use it before they adapt we can gain a serious advantage."

"Make it so." Picard ordered.

Data turned back when his station started beeping. "Captain," he said, pressing buttons on his console. "I am detecting a rift in the dimensional wall."

Picard was puzzled. It would take an immense amount of energy to even come close to doing that. Every single starship in Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire would have to pool their resources in order to do that. "Location?"

"It is resonating from the Borg cube. It seems they have discovered it too."

"Any threat?"

"If we were to be close enough to the rift, we would most certainly be transported to an alternate reality. There is no telling which we would be transported to."

"Full impulse, Mr. Crusher. Away from the rift."

"Yes, captain. Captain, the helm is not responding."

"Picard to La Forge. Can you get us away from the dimensional rift?"

"I'm not sure, Captain. All power has been cut off from the impulse engines and the warp core. We're not going anywhere."

"Try and re-establish power."

"Acknowledged. All systems have frozen."

"Captain," Data spoke up. "The Borg cube has disappeared into the rift."

"Status of the rift, Mr. Data."

"Unchanged, sir. We are being pulled in."

Picard's communicator sounded. "Riker to Picard, what the hell is going on?"

"A tear in the interdimensional wall has appeared, taking the Borg cube and pulling us in."

"What's the good news?"

"That was the good news."

"The bad news is that we have no idea where we will be transported, where the Borg have been transported, or if we will be able to return to our dimension." Mr. Data answered for the Captain.

"Mr. Data, how long until we are pulled inside the rift?"

"Thirty seconds, sir."

Picard keyed the loudspeaker. "Attention crew of the Enterprise, this is your captain speaking. We have encountered a tear in the interdimensional wall and are being pulled into it. I doubt we will be able to return. I want to say that I have been proud to be your captain and to have every single one of you on my ship. Picard out."

* * *

Fleet Master Thel 'Vadamee ordered his fleet into the human planet's orbit as soon as the Super carrier _Long Night of Solace_ was destroyed. Now was the time to let the hammer fall. Vadamee's second in command, Sangheili Major Uban 'Shyumee kneeled to his commanding officer. "We have secured our position in this system, Fleet Master. Intelligence reports confirm that the humans will not be able to make a significant counterattack in the next fifty hours."

"Good." Vadamee replied. "Land our troops on the planet and begin the invasion." His officer nodded and strode off, giving orders to the crew.

Thel walked around the bridge of his ship, _Seeker of Truth. _The humans' defenses were quickly being overrun by his troops, and soon the planet would be taken.

"Fleet Master!" One of Vadamee's officers called. "Picking up a dimensional disturbance around our position!"

Vadamee walked to the console his officer was sitting. "The distortion is forming in the middle of the fleet, and it was most likely triggered when all of the ships in the fleet slipspace jumped here at the same time." "Then explain how this has not happened before."

"I cannot say, Fleet Master. Too few of these occurrences have happened for us to study them." The console showed a form inside the middle of the fleet. "Something is coming out."

The console showed a very large cube, measuring three thousand meters on each side. The cube was black, with spots of green here and there.

"Open a channel to the ship, if it is one." Vadamee ordered. "Channel open, Fleet Master." One of the officers answered.

"Unknown starship, this is Fleet Master Thel 'Vadamee of-"

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. You culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

Vadamee was irritated. No one interrupted him around _his_ fleet. "Borg ship, you and what army?"

"Fleet Master! The ship is charging its weapons and have targeted us!" an officer reported. "Shields up, ready the plasma cannons." Vadamee ordered, taking up his chair.

The flagship rocked slightly as the Borg weapon hit the shields. "All ships return fire." Vadamee commanded. "Yes, Fleet master. All batteries firing." Came the acknowledgements.

The front screen showed the Borg ship being pummeled by the plasma torpedoes and beams. Then they just stopped having any effects. "Why aren't we doing damage to the ship?" Vadamee demanded. "Cannot be determined at the moment, Fleet Master. The Borg ship has almost cut through a section of our shield."

"Recompensate power to strengthen that shield."

"Yes, Fleet Master. Fleet Master, one of our ship's shields have been disabled." There was no way that could have happened. "Open communications with that ship." Vadamee ordered.

The view screen changed to show what looked like humans, mostly dressed in black robotic parts. The officers on the bridge were attacking the black humans. Vadamee demanded an update on the ship's situation. An Unggoy came to the microphone and started gibbering about humans appearing in a haze of green smoke and taking members of the crew. Plasma weapons were being heard in the background. The unggoy screamed as he was taken away.

"All ships, fire at will at the Borg ship. Destroy it." The ships obeyed, but nothing happened. "Status!" Vadamee shouted to one of his sensor officers. "Scans have shown that the Borg ship has adapted to our plasma weapons and is currently rebuilding itself."

"Is there any other non-plasma weapon on board?" Vadamee demanded. "We have some laser-based weapons, but I doubt-" "Fire them!" Vadamee commanded.

The Borg ship took more damage as all ships equipped with the lasers collided with the hull. Then the Borg adapted again.

"Send boarding parties to cube. Destroy it from the inside." Vadamee commanded. The Flagship rocked as it was hit with a large salvo. "What was that?"

"Trajectory suggests the blast came from the same ship that had the half-black humans on board. They must have taken over this ship." One of the officers announced.

"Open fire on that ship. Do not let that plague continue." The sound of the plasma cannons firing echoed inside the bridge. The plagued corvette exploded in a conglomeration of blue explosions.

* * *

Riker keyed his communicator. "Riker to Picard. What just happened?"

"It seems as though we are in another reality, Number One. And it looks like the Borg are here with us." The lighting dimmed as the ship rocked. "What was that?"

"The Borg must be firing at us again." Lt. Cmdr. Shelby suggested. "That might be it, Commander, but why would they wait a few minutes to destroy us when they had us with our shields down, and main weapons systems offline? I'm going up to the bridge." Riker walked out of the lab and headed for the nearest turbolift.

Riker didn't believe what was on the viewscreen. The Borg cube was getting its ass whooped by a huge fleet of alien ships. Captain Picard stared at the viewscreen as well.

"Captain, we are being hailed by one of the alien ships." Data said.

"Onscreen." The viewscreen changed to show a long, thin bridge, with aliens in different colored armor, denoting rank. One alien, in a floating chair, had different armor from the rest, clad in dark gold armor. He spoke in a dialect that involved lots of growling and every other word sounded like 'blarg'.

"Mr. Data, how long will it be before the universal translator is operable?" Picard asked.

"We only need several seconds more of dialogue, captain." His officer replied.

Riker waited in anxiety. Finally the alien language became comprehensible, and at last spoke with an accent.

"…if you do not identify yourselves we will fire on your vessel!" the alien captain said.

"No!" Picard said, putting his hand up. "I apologize for the delay. Our universal translator requires several seconds to fully translate alien languages. Can you tell us where we are?"

"You are human. You are our enemies. You will be destroyed." The alien said. Riker knew this was getting bad.

"I assure you we are not your enemies. If you will just let us leave from the presence of your fleet we will be happily on our way." Picard said.

"We have been at war for almost twenty of your years." The alien said.

Picard looked at Riker. He was thinking the same thing. _The Federation isn't at war with anyone right now. Any war hasn't lasted almost twenty years._

The alien ship rocked as it was hit with something. One of the alien officers spoke up. "Fleet Master! The Borg ship has taken over several more of our ships!"

Picard looked at Data, who was furiously tapping away at his console. "Scanners do show Borg lifesigns aboard some of the alien vessels. Captain, I am also reading human lifesigns on the planet below.

Humans? It would suggest that these were the humans the aliens were fighting. Data also said that a number of human ships were on a heading to here with a warp speed of approximately warp 2.6. How could these alternate humans travel at much slower speeds than the _Enterprise_? They must have gone back in time along with swapping realities.

"Mr. Crusher," Riker commanded. "Plot a course that takes us out of the fleet fastest while they're distracted with the Borg. Go to warp seven and rendezvous with the human sips en route here."

"Plotting a course. The route selected should take us less than a minute to meet with the human forces."

"Engage." Picard said.

The stars elongated on the viewscreen when the _Enterprise _went to warp. Remarkably, the aliens did not respond to their disappearance.

The time reaching the human fleet was filled with an uneasy silence.

The main questions of the hour were _Where are we? _And _How will we get back?_


	2. And you are?

_**A/N:**_ I'd like to say thank you to "jade" for giving me a very thorough comparison of the MAC guns to Covenant shielding. I'm surprised with all the math work you did! Go look up the review for this story; it will blow your mind. **(The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie and Star Trek to CBS)**

_**Chapter 2: And you are…?**_

Captain Jacob Keyes was nervous. He did his best not to show it, but he could tell some people knew. Keyes was commanding the Halcyon-class cruiser _Pillar of Autumn_, a ship with twenty years of flight time and recently refitted for the war.

The _Pillar _had first seen action against the Covenant in 2531, when it was defending Arcadia from the Covenant, and it had almost been destroyed in that engagement, receiving aid when it was venting atmosphere. Keyes made it a note not to make that happen again.

Keyes waited impatiently in his chair on the bridge. Everyone was silent, no doubt sharing Keyes's emotion.

And they had a reason. Seconds after the Covenant Super carrier was destroyed thanks to OPERATION: UPPERCUT, over three hundred Covenant ships slipspace jumped to Reach. Statistics show that the reinforcements were sixty percent of the UNSC fleet, but with only seventy ships, they needed at least six times what they have if they were going to have a significant chance of winning. The number of ships needed to destroy a single covenant cruiser was about three, and that was assuming the UNSC had the covvie ship with its shields down.

"Captain," One of his sensor operators spoke up. "Detecting a ship moving in the direction of the fleet. Time to intercept, three minutes."

"Inform the rest of fleet. Bring us out of slipspace when the unknown ship meets us." Keyes commanded. This certainly was new. Keyes glanced at the readout from a nearby sensor console.

The speed of the ship was moving almost as at slow speeds compared to the covenant (Who could travel 912 LY [light years] per day), but unbelievably fast to UNSC ships, who could only travel about 2 ½ LY per day. The ship oncoming could travel at approximately the same speed, but projected it could travel twice as fast as the _Pillar_ or any other UNSC ship.

"Can anyone get me some identification?" Keyes asked his bridge crew. No one replied at first, they were all astounded by the entirely new ship. Finally someone spoke up.

"Ship dimensions do not match any known registries, human or alien." An officer said.

"Bring the image on the front viewer." The picture, most likely from the ship's front angle, showed the ship as peculiar.

The ship was shown as having a long, flat top section extending down and branching off to the left and right, both curving up to create what was presumed to be the engines. Under the long flat module there was a large ellipsoid, colored different shades of blue. No doubt an emitter of some kind. The camera angle changed to its port side, and it was shown that the engines were behind the long flat top part, which was assumed to be the command module. The engines and their struts both stretched back from where it met the connector to the command module.

The angle switched again, now at a top view. The command module is now shaped as a giant circle, and took up most of the mass on the ship. The engines on the back were scanned, showing that those engines were what propel the ship to light speed. The realspace engines were not located. All in all, it looked peculiar.

"Defensive and offensive scans?" Keyes asked.

"Scans show that the ship is enclosed by an energy shield capable of hardly withstanding a single MAC round before the shields could be taken offline. Weapons include an energy-based beam weapon capable of cutting through the _Pillar_'s two meters of armor in less than four minutes. Scans also show that there is a low chance of the beams cutting through our hull in one burst. Alternate weapons include a torpedo of some kind, which, in concert with the energy weapons, would take about two to render us inoperable if not destroyed." _Interesting,_ Keyes thought_ we just might have an equal._

"Captain, the ship is coming out of slipspace." An officer reported.

"Bring is out alongside and tell the fleet not to wait. Reach needs all the help it can get."  
The _Pillar _shuddered as it ripped a through the slipspace reality. The forward viewscreen polarized, revealing the same ship Keyes had seen moments before. Both ships did nothing.

* * *

Lt. Cmdr. Data was already scanning the apparent human vessel. "Scans indicate that there are approximately two thousand five hundred human life signs aboard."

Worf chimed in with his tactical scans. "The ship is covered in two meters thick of armor plating, and it is armed with several nuclear bombs, several thousand missiles, and a large electromagnetically powered and propelled gun on the bow. Tactical estimate is…we would both be destroyed by the other."

Picard, not appearing to be dismayed, ordered to open a channel. Data watched as the viewscreen change to show a dark, well-lit room with two rows of humans at consoles. At the center of the room sat an older human, most likely the captain and around sixty years old. One by one, the crewmembers on the consoles looked at their viewscreen.

Captain Picard stood up and straightened his uniform. "Greetings." He said. "My name is Jean-luc Picard, and I am captain of this ship, the _Enterprise_. May I ask your name, Captain…?"

"Keyes," The other said in a gruff voice. "Captain Jacob Keyes of the _Pillar of Autumn_. I must say, Captain, your ship is very unusual."

"I could say the same for you, captain. Perhaps you'd like to beam over and we'll discuss it."

The other captain shifted in his seat. "'Beam' me over?"

"Yes," Picard said. "We have developed a matter transport system that we use everyday."

Keyes talked to one of his advisors. "Perhaps you'd beam here first before we return to your ship."

Picard nodded. "Very well. Send us the coordinates and I will beam over momentarily." Picard was about to close the channel when Keyes spoke up.

"Captain, what kind of coordinates do we send you, and who do we send it to? Remember that this is still very new to us."

Picard was quick to recover. That was something Data admired about his captain. No matter the situation Captain Picard always recovered from shocking or unusual news very quickly. "No matter. We will do it." The captain replied with a smile. "Mr. Data will you calculate the coordinates to put me right in the middle of that bridge? Is that acceptable, Captain?" Keyes nodded. "Very well. I shall see you in a moment." Worf shut off the viewer.

Data found the coordinates in no time flat and forwarded them to Chief O'Brien in transporter room three. What data was interested in was the presence of armed guards on the bridge and what looked like a sidearm on the captain's thigh. Data initiated a series of scans and discovered something quite controversial.

* * *

Noble Six limped from his EVA pod to survey the wreckage of the destroyed Covenant super carrier. It was something gained, something lost, he supposed. They won a victory by destroying a huge threat, but at the cost of Jorge's life. And now, on the radio, he had heard reports of a new massive covenant fleet slipping into orbit.

But then there was a report of a new ship with unknown origins firing on the Covenant vessels and slowly taking them over. Let's hope this new ship was an ally.

Six limped back from his pod and cocked a M6G pistol and began the long walk back to the closest city, New Alexandria.

Six arrived at the city about three hours later. His Spartan augmentations made the rips much easier, as his limp had healed significantly. As he walked over a rise overlooking the city, Six was dismayed to see three corvette-class Covenant ships laying siege the city. Six sighed and ran down the hill.

Six had walked/jogged a mile before he heard some military communication. (Military coms will be italicized)

_This is Kilo Dispatch: all available teams, advance to Traxus Tower. Evacuation will commence ASAP._

_Copy, Dispatch. What's the status of the tower pad?_

_Tower pad is green. Let's move these civilians before it changes._

_Copy, Dispatch. Four-Zero out._

Six leapt over a wall and walked through a damaged building. His combat senses activated as he saw three skirmishers standing out in the open. Three headshots silenced them all. Six advanced into another building across the way

_Romeo Company, be advised: we have repor__ts of Covenant suicide squads._

Several grunts appeared all activating their plasma grenades and running towards Six. Six shot them all and rolled to cover. If he got too close those grenades would total him.

_You gotta be kidding me..._

_That's a negative. Keep your eyes open, troopers._

_Kilo 26, this is Kilo 40. Covenant corvette is raining hell on us! Final Protective Fire-1, dang__er close, on my command, over!_

_Copy, Kilo 40. FPF-1 at your command._

Six mopped up some more suicide grunts.

_Fire FPF-1, over._

_Firing FPF-1... Shot._

_Hold on to your helmets!_

Six grabbed a nearby rail as the ground shook tremendously as the Covenant corvette exploded.

_Kilo 40: request FPF sit-rep._

_Negative, 26! Corvette still coming!_

_Copy, 40. Firing FPF-2... Shot._

Six didn't move from his position except to shoot a grunt that got a dumb idea.

_Damn! __How do you stop that thing?_

_I guess that corvette's gonna stay a while…_ Six thought. Six found a health pack and full healed his limp. Six walked through a door and saw two civilians run out a door, revealing a Spirit dropship leaving. An MA37 rifle was next to a dead marine, along with some additional pistol ammo. Six grabbed the gun and extra ammo.

Hearing some shouting six turned to see marines firing on a squad of Brutes terrorizing a group if fleeing civilians. Six jumped up and assisted the marines.

"Help! Somebody help us!" A civilian yelled.

"They're coming! They're after us!" Another called.

"Come on! Let's go!" A trooped said to the fleeing civilians.

"What are those things?"

"Brutes! Move to cover!"

"Picked up a friendly!"

"A Spartan? Where the hell did he come from?"

"Who cares? Spartan, assist!" Six acknowledged silently and fired on the brutes, swapping his pistol for one of their spikers. When all the brutes were dead, Six and the marine team advanced into an indoor courtyard to get to an elevator.

"Evac Team 7 to Kilo 26, we have eyes on Traxus Tower." A trooper said to his radio.

_Copy, Evac Team 7. Move to assist the evac._

_**End Ch. **_**2**

Sorry this one was a little short, but a lot of stuff happens. It looked longer on Microsoft Word, I swear! i want to thank Jade again for the tactical comparisons of the Enterprise and the Autumn. That's going to help a lot! And, going back to the references in the previous chapter, anyone who can name all three will get a mention in the story. I won't say how long or how much, it depends on how spot on you are in finding them ;) See you next time!


	3. Primitively Advanced

_**A/N**_: Thanks for all the author/story alerts and reviews. Seeing them inspires me to write more!

* * *

_**Ch. 3: Primitively Advanced**_

Thel Vadamee was shocked at how the Borg were unaffected by his fleet's weapons. First, they had almost destroyed the Borg cube with plasma cannons and laser guns, but they had adapted to both. Now the only thing keeping them back was Sangheili Energy swords and Jiralhanae gravity hammers. For some reason, the Borg couldn't adapt their shields for those, as the Covenant could easily.

Many of the Unggoy were rushing back and forth ferrying supplies and medicine. The thing they needed most now was more personnel. The Borg had taken over fifty ships in the few hours that they had been present, and a lot of Covenant had died in that assault.

Once the Borg captured a ship, it was deemed lost and the remaining ships in the fleet destroyed it before the Borg had a chance to completely assimilate the ship. Vadamee was saddened every time a ship of his was destroyed. His ship _Seeker of Truth_, was acting as the command base of the battle, but Vadamee was hardly there. He preferred to be on the front lines with his soldiers.

The fighting line inside _Undying Faith_ was teetering in both directions, with sporadic advances and retreats. It always broke Vadamee's heart when he saw an assimilated Covenant, even if it was an Unggoy or a Jiralhanae. Thel always struck down an assimilated Sangheili when he saw it to put the poor soul out of his misery.

Vadamee knew in his heart that he and his brothers would not be able to win this fight. They would be overrun in a matter of days, if not hours. The defenses were stout, but they were crumbling slowly.

The line aboard the _Faith_ was at was quickly losing ground. Thel grabbed two energy swords from a passing Unggoy and activated them both. Charging with a vicious battle cry, he chopped through the closest Borg. The blades sizzled as they burned through the Borg mechanical and biological parts.

Many of his comrades were being assimilated in the field. First the Borg downed any shields his brothers and comrades might have with energy weapons or force, and then stuck two wires into their necks, beginning the assimilation. Their skin turned a mottled grey as darker grey veins grew on their faces on bodies. The drones closest attached a red laser sight onto one of the victim's eyes and dragged him behind the lines to attach the rest of his "enhancements". The worst part was that they were conscious the whole time.

"Retreat!" Vadamee called. "Retreat back to the _Seeker of Truth_! Fall back!" His Sangheili brothers finished off their opponents and retreated. The Jiralhanae fell back hesitantly and with few more sweeps of their hammers while the rest of the soldiers piled into Phantoms and Spirits. Vadamee activated his comm.

"_Seeker of Truth_¸ this is Fleet Master Vadamee. Open fire on the cruiser _Undying Faith_ and command all nearby ships to do the same. Fire when we are out of range."

The comm operator on the other side acknowledged and transmitted the orders.

"We cannot win this fight." One of the unggoy said despairingly.

"We have a clear advantage," Vadamee said. "We have honor, the Borg do not."

A Jiralhanae spoke up. "I don't believe imaginary advantages are as powerful as tangible advantages. You keep your honor, I'll keep my hammer."

Several Sangheili visibly flinched and restrained themselves. A Sangheili walked to the outspoken Jiralhanae. "If you believe our honor is an imaginary advantage, then where would the Covenant be without us? It would have fallen apart long ago if you were leading it." This time several Jiralhanae flinched and restrained themselves. Vadamee came between the two.

"Let us not fight amongst ourselves while we have a common enemy."

"But what of the Humans? Surely our brethren are losing on the planet below without the fleet's support!" The same Unggoy said.

"We have had advantages over the humans for the entire war. I think that our brothers will take care of themselves." Vadamee patted the Unggoy on the back for reassurance. It didn't look like it worked.

* * *

Jacob Keyes closed is eyes as Picard told his officer to 'beam' them back to his ship, the _Enterprise_. Picard has told him that the process was instantaneous and painless, but Keyes couldn't help but be afraid. A low pitched sound came over them, and then rose in pitch as Keyes was transported to thee _Enterprise,_ atom by atom.

Keyes slowly opened his eyes to see Picard, and what could his transporter room. The platform Keyes was on had six circles on it, two of which he and Picard were on. Past some steps down, there was a man at a console, with an orange and black uniform.

Picard stepped down from the platform. "Chief O'Brien, this is my good friend, Captain Jacob Keyes."

O'Brien extended his hand and Keyes took it. "Welcome aboard the _Enterprise_, captain. I hope you enjoy your stay here." Keyes nodded in reply. Picard walked out of the transporter room and led Keyes to what he called his ready room, passing by the bridge.

In the middle of the bridge was the captain's char, and on each side were two seats, one for the first officer and the other three Keyes could not guess. In front of those five seats sat two officers at their consoles. The one on the left had unnaturally white skin and….yellow eyes? Behind the captain's char was another console made out of the rail that extended from around the captain's chair. A big red and disfigured alien manned the console there.

Picard walked into his ready room and sat in his seat. Keyes did the same with another chair. A silence was between them.

"Do you have any questions, Captain?" Picard asked

"I don't really know when to start. I honestly do not know where to start."

Picard smiled. "Then let me ask them for you. We are a part of an organization called the United Federation of Planets, a society in the twenty-fourth century. It is a completely peaceful society, with war, greed, and poverty eradicated long ago. Our Federation is composed of over one hundred and fifty planets, with countless species admitted into the Federation. This vessel, the _Enterprise_, is the flagship of the Federations military and exploratory wing, Starfleet."

Keyes shifted in his seat. "Well, it seems that where you come from is better than where you are. Humans have been at war with the alien confederation the Covenant, composed of eight different species. The war has lasted for almost thirty years, and we have had grave losses. The planet that my ship was going to, Reach, is the last military bastion before Earth, and it has been under attack for the last several weeks. We estimate that Reach will fall in a few weeks. Earth is already preparing for an assault, but we have some time since the Covenant do not know Earth's location."

"Well," Picard said. "It seems that we have added to your list of enemies, captain."

"How so?"

"Before we crossed to your reality, we were fighting an enemy of unimaginable power and malice. A fleet of starships engaged it and were unable to slow it down. The enemy calls itself the Borg, and they have the ability to adapt their energy shields to hostile attacks."

"So you are saying that if you blast it with certain energy for a time, it will adapt its shields to render that energy useless."

"Correct." Picard tapped something on his chest, probably a communicator. "Mr. Worf, will you come to my ready room, please?" A voice on the other side acknowledged.

The red disfigured alien stepped into the room. Keyes turned to look at him and found himself unable to avert his gaze.

"Can I help you?" The alien asked.

"I apologize. I have seen aliens in my time, but I have not seen one close to you."

The alien known as Worf gave a curt nod. "Yes, captain?" he asked Picard

"May I use your phaser, Mr. Worf?"

Worf looked confused. "Sir?" he asked.

"I wish to show the good captain an example of the weapons the _Enterprise_ has."

Keyes looked at the object on the alien's waist, probably the phaser Picard spoke of.

Worf looked nervous. "Perhaps it would be safer if you were to show your guest on the holodeck."

"Now I'm curious about this holodeck." Keyes said.

Picard sighed, defeated. "Very well. If you will follow me, captain." Picard rose and exited his ready room.

Keyes caught the eye of the white-skinned yellow-eyed human at one of the front consoles. The human looked up with intelligent eyes. "I am an android." He said evenly.

Picard turned around and introduced the android as his science and operations officer, Data. Keyes chuckled inwardly at the pun on Data's name.

"Captain Picard, I may I have a moment of your time?" The android asked.

Picard turned to Worf and instructed him to escort Keyes to Holodeck one.

"If you will follow me," Worf said. Worf led Keyes into one of the turbolifts in the corners on the bridge.

"Deck 7." Worf said. The turbolift began moving, operated by voice command, as were most of the functions on this ship, as Keyes discovered.

* * *

"Based on my scans of the _Pillar of Autumn_, I have concluded that the humans in this reality have curious technology." Data said to his captain.

"What do you mean, Mr. Data?" Picard asked.

"When we were engaged in communication with the _Autumn_, I noticed the presence of armed guards near the doors. I scanned these weapons, and found that they are similar to weapons used by twenty-first century military personnel. Fully automatic, cartridge loaded machine guns. I also scanned her engine systems, and discovered an engine configuration not yet known. I loaded this configuration into the main computer and operated it, and discovered that the ship achieves faster-than-light travel using something called a slipspace drive, created in the mid-twenty-third century. The engine creates miniscule black holes around itself, ripping an opening to a slipspace dimension. Travel in this dimension is relatively equivalent to our warp seven. The status of these humans' technology is, in a few words, primitively advanced."

Picard dwelt on this information for a moment. "What about their shipboard weapons? How advanced are they?"

"The primary shipboard weapon is a magnetic accelerator cannon, which employs a very strong electromagnetic coil to propel a six hundred tone ferric-tungsten projectile with a depleted uranium core at 30,000 meters per second. The resulting kinetic force would be catastrophic to the _Enterprise_. The ship has extra power capacitors and power recycling systems, making it possible to fire three consecutive shots per charge.

"So this…cannon, is powerful in its brute kinetic force?"

"Precisely captain. The vessel does not have much shielding, only two meters thick of strong metal plating."

"Thank you Mr. Data. The only advantage we have over them is that we have more advanced energy output."

"Yes, captain. Higher power reserves and we are capable of emitting different kinds of energy waves. The _Pillar of Autumn_ does have considerable power reserves, but not much energy projection, if any. It also is not capable of projecting an energy shield."

"Well, this has been a very enlightening discussion, Mr. Data. I shall discuss it with Captain Keyes." Picard left for the turbolift.

* * *

Noble six had just cleared a landing pad for civilian evacuation with a squad of ODST's. A pelican and two falcons set down. The civilians piled into the pelican, and Noble six hopped into a falcon cockpit.

_City's been under siege for the last five days. Thought we had it in hand, then those corvettes showed up. Our fleet's scattered, pulling back. Hell, we all got orders to evacuate. Guess some of us just don't like leaving a job half-finished..._

Six flew the falcon passed some brutes engaging marines, allowing the gunners on the side to take care of them.

A black sphere entered the atmosphere, crashing down near the starport.

_What the hell is that thing? Fox Actual to Sierra three one two, investigate that black object that just crashed near the starport._

Six acknowledged and piloted his falcon to the crash site. The sphere was still intact, and pouring from it were humans with mottled grey skin and black cybernetic components. The nearest Covenant had opened fire, and they down several of the beings within seconds. Then the plasma rounds just hit the beings and did nothing, not even faze them.

Six circled his falcon around, observing. The black and grey beings attacked the Covenant, shooting them with green bolts and injecting something in their necks. The affected Covenant fell to the ground as their skin turned the same color as the beings who infected them.

The radio piped up again.

_Fox Actual to Sierra three one two, you are now cleared to open fire on the Covenant and whatever the hell came out of that sphere._

Six acknowledged and brought his falcon about. Facing the battle of Covenant and the hostiles, Six let loose the falcon's forward machine gun, spitting bursts of five 20mm bullets that wreaked havoc on both opponents. The two gunners in the falcon were unloading as well.

After clearing out a significant number of hostiles, Six set the falcon down and hopped out, bringing his MA37 machine gun to bear. The Covenant nearby instantly reacted and opened fire, but not many had the opportunity before they were gunned down.

_Fox Actual to sierra three one two, can you give us any information on what came__ out of that craft?_

"They look like humans," Six replied. "But their skin is grey and they have cybernetic implants. Also-"

_We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile._

"Well, Fox Actual," Six said. "Now we have a name."

* * *

Good chapter. Had mostly everyone I could in it. I also plan to have many more people in the Halo and TNG universes to be apart of this conflict, not just the currently mentioned. You guys will love it. I know I will. :)


	4. Clad in Amber

_**A/N:**_ Sorry about getting this chapter out so late. I've been feeling a little under the weather. But, at least this is a chapter with some other characters I promised. Enjoy!

**(The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie and Star Trek to CBS)**

* * *

_**Ch. 4: Clad in Amber**_

The _In Amber Clad_ had just slipped into the Reach system along wit about sixty other UNSC ships. Miranda Keyes was shocked to see the Covenant already previously engaged with another enemy.

Her father, Captain Jacob Keyes of the _Pillar of Autumn_ had detected a ship from an alternate dimension (or so she was told) and had stopped to investigate. Miranda prayed that her father would come back to tell them what he had discovered.

From what the_ Clad_ could tell, the Covenant were losing the battle with their opponent. For some reason, half the fleet was firing on itself, and ships were being destroyed left and right.

Fleet Admiral Hanson came on the line.

_All ships, do not engage, repeat, do not engage. Survey the situation before anyone opens fire. Looks like the Covenant have a new friend to play with_.

"Can you scan who the Covenant are attacking?" Miranda asked.

"Scanning ma'am." An officer said. "Can't tell who they're fighting, but there's an audio message being played in the battle."  
"Play it."

"Aye."

_We are the Borg. Lower your shield and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile._

"It just keeps playing, ma'am. Over and over." The officer said.

"Contact the _Trafalgar._ Get me a line with Admiral Hanson."

Hanson came on the forward screen. "What do you need, Commander?"

"Sir, did you get that message on continuous playback?"

"You mean the one from the Borg?"

"That's the one, sir."

"My analysts are working hard, trying to decode which ship it's coming from. We'll send it to one of your officers when they're done."

Another officer spoke up. "Ma'am, sensors are picking up human lifesigns aboard some of the Covenant ships."

Hanson heard too. "Humans? On Covenant ships? The Covenant don't take prisoners."

Miranda thought for a moment. "Open a channel on the same frequency as that audio message."

"Channel open."

"This is the UNSC frigate _In Amber Clad._ Identify yourselves."

_We are the Borg._

"We know that. What is your presence in our system?"

_We were pulled into a hole in the dimensional wall between realities. Our purpose is to assimilate all forms of intelligent life. Resistance is futile._

"Ma'am, they've stopped transmitting the message."

Instantly a dozen Covenant ships turned toward the fleet of UNSC ships.

"Commander, sensors are reading power buildups in their plasma. They're preparing to fire."

* * *

UNSC _Trafalgar_ was one of the only supercarrier class warships left to the United Nations Space Command by the battles of Reach. Admiral Hanson, her commanding officer and commander of the battle group dispatched to defend Reach, was suspicious about this new force calling itself the Borg.

"All ships, prepare to fire on the oncoming Covenant ships." He didn't like this. Not one bit.

"Admiral, the Borg are hailing us. Audio only again."

"Let's hear it." Hanson didn't like this either.

_Admiral Jonathon Hanson, commanding officer UNSC _Trafalgar_, registry number 194- SC. Lower your shields and prepare to be beamed to our ship._

"Have you isolated where the message is coming from?"

"The message is coming from a….cube in the center of the carnage, Admiral."

"Not much chance in hitting that…" Hanson said to himself. "All ships, acquire a target on the oncoming Covenant ships and fire on my command."

The _Trafalgar, _being in the rear center of the fleet, didn't move that much to align its powerful MAC gun to an unlucky Covenant ship.

"Tell the super MAC gun operators to acquire a target on that cube we saw earlier. It looks like the command ship."

"Admiral, all ships and the super MAC guns have acquired targets."

"Fire."

The ship shuddered as the 60-ton slug rocketed out of the bow of the _Trafalgar_, zooming at half the speed of light. All the other ships in the vicinity fired their rounds as well. The _Trafalgar_'s shot hit dead onto a Covenant carrier, along with four other MAC rounds, destroying it from the sheer kinetic force.

The super MAC guns aligned and fired, ripping through any ship they fired upon. The slug they shot was powerful enough not only to total a first ship, but to go through the first and total a second in the same, unlucky path.

Half of the oncoming ships were destroyed in the first salvo. The rest kept coming as the ships recharged their cannons.

"Sir, energy recharge rate shows that we will not be able to fire again before the Covenant come into their weapons range."

"So you're saying we'll have to wait and get shot at while our guns recharge?"

"Yes, sir."

Hanson gripped the sides of his command chair while the first Covenant ship targeted the _Trafalgar_ and fired.

* * *

Worf was not surprised at how the guest had reacted to him. Being a Klingon, people that had not seen one would oft stare in curiosity. This man was not different.

He claimed to have also been in contact with other aliens, but from what the guest, named Keyes, had told Worf, they had not been one to have been encountered by any government.

The walk to the holodeck was a filled with questions pertaining to the _Enterprise_. Worf did not mind an occasional question, but Keyes asked a question on everything and anything he saw.

"So, how does this ship attain faster than light speeds?" Keyes asked.

Worf did not know this one. This would be a better question for Commander La Forge.

"Computer." Worf called. "Explain how the _Enterprise _travels faster than light."

"Warp engines are fueled by the reaction of matter and antimatter through an assembly of crystals. This reaction produces highly energetic plasma, called electro-plasma or warp plasma, which is channeled by plasma conduits through the electro-plasma system. The electro-plasma is funneled by plasma injectors into a series of warp field coils, usually located in remote warp nacelles. These coils are composed of verterium cortenide and generate the warp field." The computer said in its usual tone.

"Incredible…" Keyes said. "I'm not filled in on the details, but the form we use rips a hole through a dimension, called the slipspace dimension, and we travel faster than light in that dimension."

Worf thought that theory was flawed.

"Computer," He called again. "Is the theory captain Keyes mentioned able to be performed?"

"The speed in which one would travel in the slipspace realm is equivalent to warp 8. However, if one can create a more precise hole, one could potentially travel faster and more accurate."

"I guess we have some kinks to work out for us." Keyes said.

They came to the holodeck. Worf input one of his easier training exercises. When the computer said, Worf and Keyes entered.

The program was set to a dense jungle, fog on the ground, animal sounds, trees and vines sporadic, and an overall eerie feeling. That's what Keyes felt of it, from Worf saw on his face.

"Where are we?" Keyes asked. "Is this where you grow oxygen for the ship?"

"No. This is one of my training exercise programs." Worf said. "The holodeck can create any environment you want, with any specifications using holograms. I run these with a hand-to-hand weapon, but seeing as you have a weapon of your own, I will let you use it."

Keyes looked down at the weapon on his thigh, magnetically placed.

"My pistol? You want me to shoot my pistol at a hologram?" he said skeptically.

Here the opponents of Worf's program appeared, yelling and waving their weapons toward the two.

"Freeze Program!" Worf called. The holograms stopped in their tracks. "Arch." The arch that they entered from appeared. Worf held out his hand.

"Your sidearm, please."

Keyes hesitantly put the safety on his pistol and gave it to Worf, who walked to the arch.

"Computer, analyze the weapon and generate a holographic replica of form and use." The computer made a series of sounds as it scanned the pistol. Worf examined it as it was scanned.

The pistol had a long magazine cartridge, too long for the pistol. On the side it said "M6G", possibly the kind of pistol. The hand guard over the trigger extended almost all the way down the grip, denoting that someone with very large hands might wield this. The top of the pistol was straight most of the way, them bulged upwards and continued straight on to the end of the barrel.

Another pistol of exactly the same dimensions appeared in Keyes's hand. Worf gave the original back to Keyes, who put it back on his thigh.

"So if I pull the trigger," Keyes began. "Will it fire a bullet?"

Worf nodded. "A holographic bullet. If you fire it at me, it will have no effect. But you shot it at one of the holograms," Worf pointed to one of the frozen programs. "Then the hologram will be shot."

Keyes cocked the sidearm and readied it. "I'm ready."

Worf moved to a farther position. "Computer, resume program."

The holographic barbarians resumed yelling. They saw Keyes and instantly ran towards him, wielding clubs and spears, primitive weapons. Keyes aimed his pistol and fired three shots, downing three enemies. More enemies appeared, all attacking Keyes. For everyone he shot down, another took its place. Keyes soon ran out of ammo in the clip.

Keyes ejected the empty mag and fumbled for the holographic magazine supplier on his left thigh. Keyes didn't have enough time to reload, as a club wielding monster shrieked and swung at his head. Keyes ducked and kicked the monster in the knees, dislocating them and sending the monster back into two more. Keyes used this opportunity to reload all the way.

Worf looked down from a stopwatch he was holding. _0:15_. Worf had been able to survive for almost ten minutes, and that was when there were crowds of holograms attacking him. He was sure Keyes wouldn't be able to make it past two.

Keyes had gone through another two clips of ammo and had advanced onto a rock for high ground. As the monsters climbed up, they were gunned down. One grabbed Keyes by the foot, making him lose his balance and drop his pistol.

Keyes kicked that monster in the face and grabbed his spear at the same time. Any monster that came close got a spear to the face.

Worf checked his stopwatch again. _1:36_ Worf was impressed already. But one of the "boss" monsters was approaching, and Keyes would need everything to kill it.

As Keyes stabbed the last monster, he threw the spear away and jumped to retrieve his pistol. He reloaded and cocked it, scanning for more enemies.

"Are there any more?" Keyes asked Worf.

Worf smiled as a cloaked ten-foot tall Klingon warrior stalked Keyes. Keyes looked behind him and saw the shimmer. Keyes cursed and rolled, puling out his pistol. The Klingon was fast, it was on Keyes before he was out of the roll. Keyes brought the pistol to bear but the Klingon, still cloaked backhanded it out of his hand.

Keyes rolled more, trying to keep a moving target on the Klingon. The Klingon predicted Keyes and grabbed his throat in mid-roll, bringing him to six feet off the ground. As eyes struggled for air, the Klingon deactivated his cloak and sneered at Keyes.

Keyes smiled. From his sleeve Keyes procured a small shard of the spear and jammed it into the Klingon's neck before he could react. Keyes landed on his feet, with a smug look on his face,

Astounded, Worf looked at his stopwatch again. _2:02_ Worf was impressed enough. He called for the program to be ended, but Captain Picard beat him to it, who had arrived sometime before. Worf stood straight.

"Captain," he said. "When did you arrive?"

"Just as Captain Keyes started the scenario. I must say, captain, you're quite the tactician."

Keyes chuckled. "I didn't earn this captain rank for nothing."

"Now, Mr. Worf. Did you explain our weapons to the Captain or have him demonstrate his?"

"I-I was just going to show him, Captain."

Picard smiled. "No need. You may return to your post."

Worf nodded and walked out the holodeck confused and a little frustrated.

* * *

Noble six surveyed the remains of the Borg and the Covenant. He had been instructed to place bombs in the Borg sphere, but the falcon carrying the bombs had not arrived yet. Why not just take a Longsword and carpet bomb the thing? Six had better things to do than clean up.

Six would come across the occasional Borg drone still functioning. A rifle butt to the face stopped that fast.

The falcon arrived after a few minutes, along with half a dozen marine reinforcements. Six welcomed the marines silently; they would take the Borg's attention off him while he planted the bomb.

The marine carrying the bomb started the timer for ten minutes. Six sprinted toward the hole in the sphere, rifle forward.

As soon as Six entered the sphere, he could see red laser pointer lines. Scanning for their source, he found that there were additional Borg inside the sphere, probably repairing damages or recharging, according to intel. The team moved cautiously and never dropped their weapons. The Borg just ignored them, walked past them without a second thought. Six didn't care; they wouldn't get in the way.

They came to their coordinates to place the bomb. The timer had about five minutes left. The marine pressed a few more buttons and said it was good to go.

"All right," six said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

They retraced their steps. Borg in the recharging pods had their laser eyes on, but they weren't doing anything. Suspicious, Six stayed on his toes.

Red dots showed on his motion tracker behind him. Six whirled around and saw three drones just feet behind the last marine. Six fired three bursts, downing all three in less than two seconds.

"Faster." Six ordered. The marines jogged with him, but six was really only power walking. He knew he could run faster, but stealth was the objective.

…_This is Noble Two. Noble Five, Noble six, do you read?_

"This is Six. Go ahead."

_We picked up your transponder an hour ago, but could not risk open comms. We haven't been able to find Jorge._

"…He didn't make it."

_Understood. We'll bring you to us._

Siz turned a corner and found over a dozen Borg drones slowly walking forward. Six mowed them down and reloaded, checking the timer. Three minutes.

"We have to get out of here."

"The exit's not far off. Just a few more corners." A marine said.

Corner after corner, there were Borg drones waiting for them. All of them met their ends by an MA37 bullet.

Dozens of red lights appeared on Six's motion tracker, behind them.

'Tangos, on our rear!" six called, already turning around and firing.

One Borg was close enough and managed to infect a marine. He started gasping for air, his skin turning ash-grey with darker grey veins snaking across his face. He collapsed in a heap of gasping and seizing. After the immediate borg were eliminated, the team looked at their fallen teammate, wondering what they should do. Siz removed his pistol and shot the marine in the head.

"We can't let the Borg get any more reinforcements than necessary." Six said stoically. "Anyone gets infected, shoot him."

Six started off. The marines hesitated, but followed.

They finally reached the entrance. The timer was winding down to seconds, so they sprinted out. The marines weren't near as fast as Six was, but he stayed with them to make sure they didn't slip up.

The timer counted down. _05, 04, 03, 02, 01._ The sphere was consumed by pure light, followed by a deafening explosion that left Noble six deaf for a few seconds. The marines yelled and clutched their ears. Six looked back to the remains of the sphere, which was only a crater in the ground.

Six gave the marines a swift farewell and walked to a small bluff. He removed a flare and dropped it on the ground, its flame going off. Six sat on a rock and waited for his Pelican.

* * *

Hope you guys like it. Review what you think, anything else I should do, ideas, opinions, comments, blah blah blah. I like hearing from you guys.

By the way, I have enough Enterprise/Pillar of autumn comparisons, but thanks again for the people that did. The action scenes were a little tough to write, especially Keyes living up to his tactical genuis-ness. See you all next chapter!


	5. An Old Friend

_**A/N:**_ I am sorry this is out so late, but I've had finals to study for, and continuous writer's block. It sucks. Enjoy the long put-off chapter! **(The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie and Star Trek to CBS)**

* * *

_**Ch. 5: An Old Friend**_

Keyes walked out of the holodeck with Picard, fascinated. The weapons the _Enterprise_ used, called "Phasers", uses plasma that is passed to a phaser emitter resulting in a discharge of nadion particles. The disruptive effects of nadion discharges are moderated to produce varying effects, resulting in its harmful affects.

"Well, captain," Picard said, breaking Keyes's thoughts. "Have you enjoyed your stay on the _Enterprise_?"

"You bet I have!" Keyes said. "Your ship looks fantastic, the technology is amazing, and the crew is interesting."

"I hope to eventually see your ship, captain."

Keyes was brought back to the present situation. The UNSC was engaging the Covenant fleet at Reach. He and the _Pillar of Autumn_ needed to be there.

"I am sorry; Captain Picard, but the _Autumn_ and I have to be somewhere else."

"And where would that be?"

"The system you arrived in, Reach. I was apart of the fleet sent as reinforcements when you came into our reality. From what you've told me about the Borg, I can guess the Covenant will be in for the fight of their lives."

"We have dealt with the Borg before, and we might be able to give you an advantage against them if you like it."

Keyes didn't know the details of the battle, but he welcomed the help either way.

"If you will follow us to Reach, can you make a tactical estimate?"

"I believe we can do our best. But our tactical knowledge is quite limited, we have only fought the Borg twice."  
"How much about the Borg do you know?"

They walked into a turbolift headed for Transporter 2.

"The Borg communicate using a hive mind, there are no individuals, just one collective consciousness. They have developed technology that far surpasses ours, the only reason we were able to escape our first encounter was due to some help from an old…acquaintance." Picard inwardly winced at the mention. "They adapt to whatever energy they are exposed to after several samples of it, and then that energy is useless against them."

"So, potentially," Keyes said. "The Borg might have already adapted to Covenant plasma?"

"I'm sure we both know that plasma itself is a form of ionized gas, but there is a possibility that the plasma the Covenant used, from what you've told me they seem far more advanced, just might be a form of energy."

"How did you escape from your latest encounter with the Borg?"

"We used randomly modulating energy frequencies so that the Borg could not adapt to our weapons fire. We stunned the Borg for a short while, and we used that to get away, where we ended up here."

"You almost sound as if it was a bad thing you came here." Keyes observed.

"While you need assistance that we could easily render, captain, remember that my crew has lives of their own, families. It is my duty as captain to oversee their well-being on this ship."

Keyes understood that. That was his responsibility as well. But they needed every advantage they could get. Keyes didn't think that alien construction under ONI Sword Base Dr. Halsey was decoding wouldn't do much good.

The turbolift opened to the corridor, second door down was the transporter room. Picard led Keyes in. The transporter chief, (O'Brian, was it?) stood at attention.

"Is the Captain going back to his ship sir?" O'Brian asked.

"Yes, chief. Beam him to his bridge."

Keyes shook Picard's hand. "I'll admit, she's a good ship, the _Enterprise_. With all your technological gizmos, I doubt the _Autumn_ will survive long."

Picard chuckled. "I doubt that very much. I think our ships are equals."

Keyes stepped onto the pad and closed his eyes. He heard the beaming sound, and next thing he knew he was back on the bridge of the _Autumn_.

* * *

The Borg's attack on the _Trafalgar_ had been devastating. The first salvo of plasma had disabled the slipspace drive, destroyed half the Archer missile pods, and caused severe structural damage. The bridge was in flames, most of its officers dead. Hanson and a few surviving officers were attempting to direct a counterattack while trying to evacuate.

"Everyone get to the Pelican!" Hanson shouted. He couldn't believe it. One of the last super carriers in the fleet was about to break apart. The pride of the fleet, taken out with the first shot.

"Let's go! Move, move!" Hanson counted the people left on the bridge. Standard complement was fifteen people; seven were killed in the first explosion. Four officers were on their way to the pelican docked at an emergency escape pod two hundred meters away. The three officers still here were searching for one last woman, crewman first class Jacqueline Yesmine. Yesmine was just out of the academy, this being her first assignment. This was one of the things Hanson hated about this war. People join the military and have a high chance of being slaughtered by some religious alien bastards that have been doing for close to thirty years.

The officers left hefted a piece of metal. One stepped down and lifted Yesmine's body from the wreckage. Her uniform was ripped in several places, and the left side of her body was badly burned. Bones were exposed in several places.

Hanson didn't know why he shed a tear. He knew it would happen, one way or another. It always broke his heart either way.

The officers remaining finally left. _Good riddance_ Hanson thought. Now they can finally get the hell out of here. But there was one last thing to do.

"Iris! You still there?" Hanson called.

"Y-y-yes, adm-m-miral. What do you n-n-need?" The AI responded, damaged severely.

"Proximity of the Covenant ships, now!"

"The closest sh-ship is two miles f-from us."

"Tell all other ships to get away from the _Trafalgar_ and activate the self-destruct sequence post-hence!"

"Acknowledged. Ships r-r-responding. Warning. This unit and ship has received s-s-serious damage. Recommend immediate c-core shutdown."

Hanson rolled his eyes. "Iris, begin deletion sequence, authorization Hanson seven alpha omicron."

"Deletion process beginning. It was nice knowing you, admiral."

That was it. Hanson ran as fast as he could to the escape pod where the rest of his officers and the pelican were waiting.

A green silhouette formed in front of him, and stood there were two humans, with grey skin and black cybernetic parts. Hanson turned around and found two more.

A _crack_ rang out, and one of the 'humans', Hanson assumed they were the Borg coming to get him, fell to a battle rifle round. Hanson whirled around and fired his sidearm at the two Borg behind him. They fell to the ground, their mechanical parts whirring. Hanson turned and ran to the pelican, jumping over the fourth dead Borg.

Thirty meters to the pelican. Four more silhouettes appeared, this time they were armed more heavily, with actual weapons fitted onto their left forearm.

A marine fired his MA5B, downing three Borg, followed by more fire from the battle rife and Hanson's M6G pistol.

Ten meters. Twenty Borg appeared. Hanson stopped in his tracks. He heard his marines shooting, trying to cut an exit for Hanson. Hanson knew it was useless. They would just keep coming. He dropped his pistol and activated his comm system.

_Hanson to Pelican pilot, take off immediately._

_But sir, I'm under orders from Commander Keyes to get you out of here._

_Pilot, I'm giving new orders. Take off and go._

_Sir, you won't survive-_

_Pilot, _now.

Hanson heard the pelican's engines whine and take off. The Borg grabbed his arm and was teleported to what he assumed was inside the closest Covenant ship.

The inside of the ship was the typical fluidic structuring with purplish blue coloring, but with black technological implants here and there, ruining the essence and making the whole thing symmetrical.

Hanson was led to the bridge. Bodies of Covenant jackals and grunts were seen here and there. Hanson saw 'borg'-ed Covenant, elites with black mechanical implants with a laser pointer on their left eye. There were tubes coming out of two of their four jaws.

Hanson was brought to a viewscreen showing lines like you would find on a 21st century plasma lamp (Google it and you'll know what I mean)

A deep voice spoke, like many speaking at once with perfect precision and no individual distinction.

"Admiral Jonathon Hanson, you command the strongest vessel of your people. You will speak for them." The voices said.

"Ok. What the hell are you doing in this system when we've colonized over three hundred systems and seen no indication of your existence?"

"We come from a dimensional parallel to yours."

"What caused you to jump realities?"

"Irrelevant. You have confirmed that humans are belligerent and aggressive. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

Hanson tried to break out of the restraint of the two Borg. But as soon as the voices spoke, Hanson felt something puncture his neck in two places. Something was growing across his body from those two points, and he was slowly losing his consciousness. The last thing he remembered was desperately trying to hold on to his individuality.

* * *

Picard walked onto the bridge. "Ensign, plot a course back to system we arrived in."

"Aye Captain." Wesley keyed the commands into the console. "It shouldn't take us very long for us to arrive there."

"One minute, seven seconds, Captain." Data added.

"Engage." Picard said, sitting down.

The stars on the viewscreen elongated to simulate the appearance of being faster than light.

"Mr. Data, did you run any more scans on the _Pillar of Autumn_?"

"I have sir, but they are inconsequential." Data replied.

"What was our guest like?" Riker asked.

"He was interesting. He seems like an able captain, one that will go to great lengths to protect his crew."

"Sounds just like ours." Riker said with a smile.

Picard smiled back. "I would have liked to have seen his ship though. From what he described it, it is a sight to see."

"Hopefully we'll see it before we get back home."

"Indeed, number one."

By the time the _Enterprise_ returned to the Reach system, all that could be seen was smoldering hulls and explosions. The viewscreen outlined the _Pillar of Autumn_ as it maneuvered its way through the debris and flames. The hulls were of either uniform black metal or purple, curved material with small hexagons outlined on them.

"Captain, the _Pillar of Autumn _is hailing us." Worf said.

"Onscreen."

The viewscreen shifted to the bridge of the _Autumn_. People were talking all at the same time. Those that weren't talking or staring at the viewscreen in awe were hard at work on their consoles.

"Captain Picard," Keyes said. "Can you believe this? Two-thirds the Covenant and UNSC fleet is in ruins! Can I expect this is the Borg's doing?"

"Mr. Data?"

"Sensors show a very small amount of Borg life forms aboard many of the ships, Captains. The readings are quickly going down."

Keyes chuckled. "Then they're expecting resistance?"

Data looked up from his console. "It is possible. In their attempt to take over either of the ships, the weapons of the humans and Covenant could overpower them, assuming some weapons of the Covenant use force and not energy." He said.

"There are about two we know of, and they're widely used."

"Captain Keyes," Picard resumed. "How many ships do you read are left of both sides?"

"Our transponder codes show that about twenty ships are still operable of the UNSC, and about fifty of the Covenant. Borg ships are negligible."

A beeping went off at Worf's console behind Picard. "Captain, there is an audio message being played in the center of the alien fleet. Playing."

The universal translator worked as the feed came in. _This is Fleet Master Thel Vadamee. I am ordering all Covenant soldiers to cease advance and hold the line until further orders._

"That should give some of your men a good day, Captain." Riker put in.

Keyes nodded. "I'll pass it on to Command." He nodded to someone off-screen.

"Mr. Worf, can you open a channel to the audio frequency?"

"Aye, captain. Open."

Picard stood up and smoothed his uniform. "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the _Enterprise. _Fleet Master Vadamee, I believe we have met before."

"What do you want, human?" Came the voice.

"We share a common enemy. The knowledge possessed by my crew could give you the opportunity to destroy the Borg."

"We have drove the Borg away from our space. And our soldiers will make short work of them as well."

Keyes joined in the conversation. "The Borg will adapt to your energy weapons, as you well know. You need to get in close if you want to kill them, which is extremely risky. If you want to have a chance of repelling the Borg with few casualties, you need our bullets."

"Who was that talking?" Vadamee demanded.

"That was a representative of the human forces, with whom I hope you will negotiate a cease-fire to counter the Borg offensive."

"Where?"

"Aboard the _Enterprise_."

"I would die first before I set foot on a human ship!" Vadamee yelled.

"This ship is unlike any human ship you have met before. Compare us physically. Do we look alike?"

Vadamee consulted with some of his officers. "You do look unusual compared to regular humans."

"Then will you accept to meet aboard the _Enterprise_ with myself and Captain Keyes to negotiate a truce?"

Vadamee grudgingly accepted. Only if no aides or guard could be brought, and guards only from the _Enterprise_.

"Very well. Shall we send transport?"  
"No, human. We will arrive ourselves."

"It would be much easier if you just beamed over…"

"We do not let something take us apart I teleportation. I will arrive in a type-52 dropship. Await my arrival in thirty of your minutes."

"I'll have my officer send you coordinates." Picard tapped Wesley on the shoulder.

"Audio channel closed, captain." Worf said.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" Picard asked.

"I think that it's a good idea, though I doubt the people at Command will want the things that have killed trillions shooting at something alongside us."

* * *

Noble team found Noble Six fighting in a clump of Borg drones. His assault rifle was going off nonstop, downing everything in its path.

Carter wished Jorge was still alive, so he could use his Gatling gun and mow everything down. But he was dead, so Carter handled the Gatling gun on the Falcon and fired away. _Same affect_, Carter thought.

Noble Six looked to the sky and saw the Falcons giving him aid. Kat and Jun were at work on the other Falcon, and Emile was manning a grenade launcher/EMP cannon on the other side of Carter's falcon.

The Borg were soon cleared out, and the Falcons touched down.

"Covenant advances have stopped, and the Covenant fleet that showed up after you arrived here is crippled. We have a moment to breathe." Carter put his shoulder around Noble Six.

"What now?" He asked sullenly.

"We hold the line and wait for orders. But," carter surveyed the dead Borg, "I don't think we'll be too busy."

Nothing could be more ironic.

Hundreds of Borg drop pods landed around Noble Team and their falcons. Almost immediately their pilots and Falcons were disabled. Carter gave the order to engage and defend.

Six ran to the Gatling gun on the falcon while Kat climbed on top, securing a signal to Command for evac. Carter and Jun looked for headshots, and Emile ripped off the grenade launcher and wasn't stingy.

Kat jumped down from the Falcon. "Evac arriving in ten minutes!" she called, drawing her pistol and joining the firefight.

"Ten minutes is too long. We don't have enough ammo to hold out." Carter said.

Carter's HUD displayed how many magazines he had for his DMR. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 0. He swapped to his pistol. 3. 2.

"Kat, how much longer till evac?"

"Our evac has been postponed thirty minutes."  
"_What?_" Carter yelled.

"In exchange for some reinforcements." Kat said, with a hint of a smile in her voice.

Another drop pod landed, but it wasn't of Borg origin. The door blasted off, ramming some Borg.

Green, armored, and seven feet tall, stood a SPARTAN in Mk-V MJOLNIR armor.

"Master Chief, John-117, reporting for duty."

* * *

Ugh, finally done with this! I hope you will enjoy this until probably next weekend, when I go on vacation and I'll be able to write more. I've had the idea to insert Master Chief in since halfway through Chapter one. BUT! Before you say ANYTHING! Master Chief _does_ have a presence on Reach, for all you canon-loving people. People who have read _Fall of Reach_ will agree with me. For you non-believers, look it up on Halopedia.

And another thing: for everyone that's been giving conflicting comparison reports on the FTL and weapons/defenses of Covenant vs Pillar of Autumn vs Enterprise, STOP. I already have a basis of comparisons that I will use (jade). I will stress artistic/creative license. Whichever one, the one that since its my story I do what I want. This is said with the _**highest **_amount of respect. I hope you'll respect it back. :)


	6. Table Manners

_**A/N**_: I hope you guys liked the arrival of the Chief. From the reviews, I'd say you have **(The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie and Star Trek to CBS)**

_**Ch. 6: Table Manners**_

Thel Vadamee looked on at the _Enterprise_ as his Phantom circled around it. The Phantom, 67 meters wide, was much too large to fit into the _Enterprise_'s puny shuttlebay. They would need to think of something else.

"Fleet master, perhaps you would reconsider us sending a shuttle to pick you up," the Human Picard said again into the comms channel.

"Human, I will not resort to your means of transportation. If I have to, I will jump from my phantom."

Vadamee heard a sigh on the other end. Picard's voice was heard, but Vadamee could not distinguish any words from it. A high pitched whine could be heard, and Vadamee found himself in a room with a Human at a console, looking at Thel.

Enraged, Vadamee roared loud and activated his energy sword. The human at the console tapped something on his chest and said something about security.

Vadamee ran for the human, meaning to decapitate him. The human threw himself just as the energy sword came to him. Vadamee roared again, and something hissed behind him. Thel looked.

Standing there were two more humans in yellow and black uniforms. One was talking.

"Activate security force field around alien 1A!" he called.

Thel heard a beep from somewhere around him. But nonetheless, the humans had captured him somehow. Thel raised his sword again and charged at the first human, but he was impeded by an invisible energy field. Vadamee slashed it several times with his sword, but to no effect.

Vadamee roared as loud as he could and shot a look at the humans that had come in. "What is the meaning of this?"

Another wretched human walked into sight, bald and wearing a red and black uniform. The guards straightened on sight.

"Greetings, Fleet Master." Vadamee recognized the voice as Picard's. He lowered his sword somewhat.

"Captain Picard, what right do you have to kidnap me and hold me hostage?"

"I wouldn't really call it 'kidnapping', Fleet Master, more like forceful persuasion."

"Release me at once!"

Picard put his hand up. "Only if you will surrender your weapons to my staff." Picard looked at one of the guards, who nodded and deactivated the force field. A guard stepped forward and held out his hand.

Snarling, Thel threw his sword to the wall, embedded in the circuitry, and trudged off with Picard.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To our observation lounge. It's where my senior staff holds meetings and diplomatic parties."

"Who else will be there?"

"Only one other person. He is representing your opponent."

Vadamee wondered how the representative would compose himself in front of a long-hated opponent that has slaughtered countless thousands of his brothers. He clacked his four jaws at the thought.

Picard led Thel to a room with a curved table and ten chairs. Sitting halfway down was an older human, around the same age as Picard Thel guessed, in grey uniform. He stood up and extended his hand. Thel took it reluctantly, shuddering inwardly at the mere thought of _touching_ one of these despicable humans.

"Fleet Master Vadamee of _Seeker of Truth_, meet Captain Jacob Keyes of _Pillar of Autumn_." Picard said, gesturing to both. The human called Keyes's expression was grave, as was Thel's mood.

Thel sat in one of the chairs, too small for his kind. Being eight and a half feet tall, Thel preferred to stand as opposed to sit.

"What are your terms?" Thel asked.

"We propose an alliance with the Covenant around Reach to destroy the Borg in this sector and send the _Enterprise _home." Picard said.

"How will we accomplish these things?"

"We have received evidence that projectile objects have no effect on the Borg's energy shields, and therein lays our advantage. In order to defeat the Borg, we must merge the Covenant numbers superiority with the weapons if the UNSC."

"I am not sure how my brothers would receive this news."

"It's sure as hell better than being some wind-up toy." Keyes spoke up.

"If I had my sword, I would have killed you where you stand." Thel growled.

Picard stood up, putting his hands between the two. "Now, gentle beings, let us not be so hasty to draw our arms. We are proposing that you two simply work together, not live with each other. If necessary, you will not have to have direct contact with the humans at all. We can beam, just as we did you, the necessary equipment to your soldiers on the ground while the UNSC defends the space above."

Thel growled. "I would rather fight with my sword than a machine."

"Then what do you call _your _weapons? Living things? 'oh how are you doing, little plasma launcher, how many innocent civilians _did you kill today?_'" Keyes said, rocking an imaginary baby. "Captain," Picard scolded

Vadamee slammed his fist on the table. Thel and Keyes held their eyes for a long while until Picard intervened. "Enough!" he yelled. "Treat each other with respect or fight the Borg on your own!"

Vadamee removed his fist from the table, which had developed a new dent.

"Does the aforementioned plan please you, Fleet master? We beam you the weapons, and you fight on your own?"

Thel scowled. "Only if the humans do not encroach on our lines. I will give the order to fire if they do."

Keyes stood up. "And so will I. Only out of equal treatment."

Picard nodded. "Captain, if you will give coordinates to Mr. Data, and then we will begin the transports. Fleet master, you may return to your ships."  
Vadamee walked out and followed the guard back to what was called the transporter room.

Miranda Keyes called for a damage report for what seemed like the six thousandth time. The Borg ships just kept coming; there seemed no end in sight. Things looked grim for the UNSC ships, which were down to a dozen ships. The _In Amber Clad_ had used all of its Archer missiles, and there weren't many MAC rounds left.

The comms officer spoke up. "Ma'am, what are your orders for the fleet?"

Miranda hesitated. They could go down, and take out the Borg fleet now by self-destructing in key areas. Or they could retreat and lick their wounds like frightened animals.

The Keyes family always preferred to live.

"Give the order for ships to retreat behind the Super MAC guns and give them support. That should hold back the Borg for a while."

The officer repeated the orders as Miranda gave the helm direction. The ship shuddered as the engines roared, and soon they were zooming away from the Borg.

The battle _was_ going well, they had destroyed most of the Covenant ships infected by the Borg, but there were still enough on the individual ships to take them over and re-ignite the conflict.

"Change the viewscreen aspect to behind us." Miranda ordered. The screen blinked and the rear end of the ship was seen, with dozens of Borg-ified Covenant ships, along with that eerie cube.

"Ma'am, we're behind the Big Stick line. So's the rest of the fleet."

Miranda smiled as the Super MAC gun turned and acquired its first victim. The gun fired a slug so fast that Miranda wasn't sure she saw it mid-flight before it hit its targets. The first ship victim was cleaved in two; the ship directly behind it was crippled.

"Ships with enough MAC ammunition support the super MAC line and support the rest of the fleet's retreat down to Reach." Five ships stayed behind to cover their retreat. The six and the _Clad_ flew down to the ship breaking yards in Aszod.

"Commander, transponder locators have found the _Pillar of Autumn_." An officer said.

"Open communications, now!"

Buttons were pressed and Miranda's father showed on the viewscreen. Miranda nodded. "Captain."

Her father nodded back. "Commander."

"May I ask the reason of your delay, sir?"

"I'll tell you that in person. It's too important, and, frankly, you have to see it to believe it."

Some of the officers on the _Clad_ whispered to each other, but were quickly hushed by peers and the Commander.

"Where would you like to meet and discuss this?"

"You're heading to the Aszod ship-breaking yards, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"We'll meet there."

"Aye, Captain."

Keyes smiled at her daughter. "Good luck, Miranda."

"Thank you, f-Captain."

The viewscreen went blank.

"Let me know when we reach the ship-breaking yards." Miranda stood and walked off the bridge. It had been a very stressful day.

An hour later, Miranda was called back to the bridge; they had docked at the ship-breaking yards for repairs. The five ships that had stayed behind were on their way. The Borg advance was temporarily halted.

"Ma'am, Captain Keyes is on his way on a Pelican. He'll touch down in Hangar Bay three in fifteen minutes."

"Current status of our ships and the Borg?"

"All fourteen remaining ships are down for repairs, including us and the _Pillar_. The Borg are sitting just outside our guns' range, but they aren't doing anything for now."

_So we've got some breathing room_. Keyes thought. "I'll be in the Hangar. Let me know if our situation changes."

The walk to the hangar took about ten minutes, so Miranda didn't have to wait long for the Pelican carrying her father to arrive. When it did land, it landed cockpit forward, facing her. She saw her father hop out, followed by two people in red and black uniforms, one bald and one tall with black hair. Miranda's hand went to her pistol instinctively.

Her father's hand went up. "That won't be necessary, Commander. These are allies."

Miranda was still suspicious. Her father regarded these strangers like friends. What was she not being told?

"Why don't we talk in the meeting room?" Keyes asked.

Miranda gestured with her hand. "Of course sir. This way."

Her father nodded to the visitors and followed his daughter. The walk was quiet. When they reached the conference room, the two guests sat next to her father; Miranda taking the opposite seat.

"So," she said. "Care to introduce yourselves?" (A/N: 'Keyes' will refer to Captain Keyes, 'miranda' to the daughter)

The older man looked at Keyes. "Shall I explain?" He said in a deep voice. Keyes shrugged. "You know more about the situation than I do."

The older man looked at Miranda. "My name is Jean-Luc Picard, and this is William Riker. We are officers of the starship _Enterprise_."

Keyes leaned forward. "When that massive Covenant fleet arrived at Reach, it ripped a hole in the boundary between dimensions. The _Enterprise_ and the Borg were pulled in, to our reality."

Miranda studied Picard and Riker. "So you two are from a different reality?"

Riker nodded. "Yes. We were fighting the Borg when the rift was opened and the Borg were pulled in first."

"How much about the Borg do you know?"

"We know that they are capable of adapting to hostile energy projectiles used against them." Riker answered. "We were retreating from them for this reason; we could not put a sufficient dent in their armor."

"But their energy shields don't adapt to matter?"

"It seems so," Picard answered. "Since your weapons shoot projectiles of matter, and not energy, which could be the Borg's Achilles' heel. It may seem that that is the only way of stopping them."

"What are the Covenant doing about this?" Miranda asked.

"The Covenant know that the Borg are a force to be reckoned with." Keyes said. Although they have ways of fighting them, they need our weapons to survive this fight. We've created an uneasy alliance with the Covenant to fight the Borg."

Miranda nearly fell out of her seat. "We're fighting _with_ the Covenant?"

Keyes nodded. "The thing they have and we don't is superior numbers, and the thing they need is our guns. It seems like a fair trade. We mop up the skies, they mop up the planet."

Miranda still didn't like it. "What about the Covenant ships still intact?"

"They'll be under orders from their leader, but for the most part they'll be assisting the ground forces. Their weapons don't have much effect in space, so theirs will be a role of support."

"So we are leaving the defense of space to the orbital MAC guns? What will happen when a massive Borg fleet slips in?"

"There was only one Borg ship we were fighting, and it is heavily damaged." Picard said. "I believe that the chances of more pure Borg ships warping in are nonexistent. Unless the Borg are developing a dimension-crossing technology, which I doubt heavily, we should not expect any more reinforcements."

"Why do you doubt they won't develop that technology?"

"While the Borg are very effective in faster then light travel, they have not discovered a way to break the wall between dimensions that we have seen." Riker said. "After all, the phenomenon that brought us here could very well have been a freak accident."

Miranda thought. "What are your suggestions for fighting the Borg?"

"Gun them down at a distance." Picard said. "They assimilate into their collective only at hand-to-hand range. In space, I would suggest keep moving. They prefer to use tractor beams and then use cutting beams on immobile targets."

"We cannot use our MACs while constantly moving. The ship is built around the gun, and we cannot fire it in a broadside attack."

'Then I would suggest using your MAC guns as much as possible before breaking off and supporting those that still can shoot."  
Keyes nodded. "The Super MAC guns. They can easily gun down the biggest Covenant ship with one shot. Two if the Covvies are incredibly lucky. Miranda, I want you to oversee the repairs of the remaining UNSC ships, and when they're repaired, get them right back up and help those super MAC's."

Miranda nodded. "Aye, captain."

Keyes turned to Picard. "The _Autumn_ will stay planet side and coordinate UNSC attacks."

Picard nodded. "The _Enterprise_ will render support to those who need it while trying to find an advantage against the Borg."

They all stood. Miranda shook Picard and Riker's hands. "Pleasure meeting with you sir."

Picard nodded, who left the conference room with Keyes and Riker.

Miranda sat down. This was a lot to digest. First we've got a massive Covenant fleet attacking humanity's last remaining military bastion. She can handle that without much stress. Then there's some freak new alien species attacking both sides and winning with only one ship. And now some visitors from an alternate dimension directing the battles.

Miranda sighed and looked out the window. The last of the ships had arrived from giving the super MAC's as much aid they could. One ship was just finishing repairs, the _UNSC Durandal_.

The _Clad_ had taken extensive damage, and the workers could not see the ship back in action within the next few days. Which meant a lot of down time for young Keyes, which she never took. _I guess I'll give the troopers a hand._

Noble Six surveyed the remains of the hundreds of Borg that had attacked them. They had almost been overcome, but then a SPARTAN-II had arrived and hauled ass. Couldn't really expect otherwise, it was like having a second Jorge.

Kat had told them that transport was on its way. They were going to the _Pillar of Autumn_, who had established command on the planet.

Six was still processing the fact that the humans and Covenant were in an uneasy truce. He easily believed that the humans could hold back to Borg, and let the Covenant deal with it on their own. That would probably lead to more Borg to kill, and there weren't enough military personnel to hold them all back.

The next few minutes were filled with silence as the two transport falcons landed and picked up their passengers.

The pilot spoke up on the comms. "Noble team, message coming in from the _Pillar of Autumn_."

Odd. Usually when someone had a message it went straight to Carter, not the whole team. This must be important. Hopefully the new guy would hear it.

_Noble Team, this is Captain Keyes. What is the status of the Borg in New Alexandria?_

"The city was already holding back Covenant assaults, and in addition to the Borg coming on from space, there was just too many. Noble team was almost killed by the sheer number of Borg there, if had it not been for Sierra One one seven." Carter reported.

_Understood. You will receive new orders when you arrive at the Pillar._

John spoke up. "Ten minutes."

_Ten minutes is it then. You'll have some down time before you get the orders, so feel free to take off your armor._

Six looked at his team, and wondered what they looked like without their armor. Sure, he had an estimate from the shape of their armor, but Six hadn't been able to take his helmet without something exploding in the last few weeks. Six hadn't seen Emile with his helmet off yet, and he didn't expect to see John's armor off.

They arrived in a hangar of the _Pillar_ not much later. The personnel there was incredibly, since the ship had become the new HIGHCOM for the planet.

An African-american man came up and greeted them with a gruff voice. "SPARTANS, Gunnery Sergeant Johnson. I'll show you to captain Keyes."

Sorry this one was out so late. I've had a lot of stuff to do and when I did get around to this, I didn't write much. I'll try and get at least one more chapter before the third of the year. ¡Hasta la próxima!


	7. Battle Plans

_**A/N**_: Happy New Year!

_**Ch. 7: Battle Plans**_

Thel Vadamee stepped off his Phantom at the recently established command post in what the humans called New Alexandria. The Covenant on site had done a superb job of holding the line against the humans, who have not been active, and the Borg, who is constantly attacking.

The recently arrived weapons from the _Enterprise_ have, Thel will admit, helped in pushing back the Borg's advances. There have been few accidents, and fewer casualties from the Borg. Most only Jiralhanae that became enraged and decided to defeat the Borg without a weapon, even without one of their filthy gravity hammers.

Thel walked into the operations hub of the base, and found fellow Sangheili hard at work, directing orders and preparing for attacks. One of them noticed Thel and announces his presence, and the Sangheili all stand at attention. Thel nods and relieves them, and they get back to work.

The officer in command, Sangheili Ultra Rtas Vadumee, approached Thel.

"Report." Thel said

"The Borg are being handled, currently, and the humans have not come out of their holes that we have seen. Their weapons have been crucial in holding back the Borg."

Thel admired Rtas for openly complimenting the humans' weaponry. Even though they have been losing the war for nearly thirty years, they knew how to make good guns. It was just the lack of good guns in space that lost them the war.

An alarm went off, and several Sangheili rushed around.

"That's the air radar!" Rtas said. "Something is flying towards us at great speed!" He turned to one of the technicians. "Get me an image!"

The image of the ship in question appeared on a hologram projector in the center of the room.

"Cancel your alert, Ultra." Thel said. "This ship is an ally."

Rtas called of the alarm, but he still looked confused. "Fleet Master? What makes you so sure that this alien ship is friendly?"

"Because I was on it half an hour ago." Thel said coldly.

That was a good enough answer for Vadumee, who nodded and walked to check on something.

Satisfied, Thel walked out of the command room, bumping into a Jiralhanae in the hallway. Thel snarled at him.

"Pathetic Sangheili." The Jiralhanae said. "You sit here cowering in this room hiding behind display screens while we soldiers spill our blood to protect you. What is your motto of your generals? 'Victory is secured, not from the throne, but from the front lines.'"

If Thel had not restrained himself, he would have run the Jiralhanae through right then and there.

"You forget your place." Thel growled. "Who was it that led you through these victories? Who aided you from space when your battle on the planet went ill? Who has been a vital part of the Covenant since its creation? And ask yourself this as well: where were you when this was happening?" Thel turned and walked down the hallway. He heard a growl from the Jiralhanae, and from the sound of it, he wanted Thel to hear it.

Thel walked out of the base to the front line, where Covenant were scrambling to deliver weapons and ammunition to those who needed it. The Borg were casually walking toward his brothers, most getting gunned down a long ways off. The closest one get was maybe one hundred feet before a Kig-yar put a bullet between its eyes.

Thel stooped next to a Sangheili body, examining the cause of death. Thel found bullet holes in his brother's chest, thought no humans were found to cause the damage. Next to the Sangheili's post stood a Jiralhanae, firing the same weapon that was most likely used to kill Thel's brother.

Thel put his hand on the Jiralhanae's shoulder and whipped him around.

"Jiralhanae," He growled. "Explain the death of this Sangheili."

The Jiralhanae looked dumbly at the body. "A Borg got to him."

"Then explain the bullet holes in his chest. The truce demanded sides keep to themselves, so it couldn't have been a human."

"A Borg got to this one, and I had to shoot into the Sangheili to kill the Borg."

Thel knelt down and checked for puncture marks. There were none. Snarling, Thel brought out his energy sword and put it at the scum Jiralhanae's neck.

"Listen, scum. If I find out that you killed my brother, I will save no mercy for you. Your death shall be slow and painful."

Several of the Jiralhanae's brethren grabbed Thel and tore him away. Thel's energy sword happened to graze the Jiralhanae in question, but he acted like it had run him through.

The Jiralhanae restraining Thel threw him on the ground and aimed their weapons at him. Seeing their brother about to perish, three Sangheili leaped to assistance, one jumping on a Jiralhanae's back and the others tackling the rest. More and more Jiralhanae and Sangheili joined the brawl, leaving Unggoy and Kig-yar to hold the line

After the brawl, there were three more Sangheili dead than Jiralhanae.

And so the Great Schism began.

* * *

Data walked with the Captain Picard and Commander Riker to the transporter room. They were beaming down to the _Pillar of Autumn_ to give a mutual briefing to the team of SPARTANS that had arrived from New Alexandria.

Upon beaming down, they found the _Pillar of Autumn_ in a flurry of communication, weapons, supplies and people. Data expected no less from the recently established COMMAND on the planet.

An aid found them and escorted them to the meeting room, where six, six foot SPARTANS and Keyes sat in military uniform. Data studied all of their faces, most painted with scars and other signs of battle. The tallest stood at six and a half feet.

Keyes regarded the _Enterprise_ representation. "SPARTANS, this is Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Lieutenant Commander Data. Captain, we have Noble Team, Carter, Kat, Jun, Emile, and…your name escapes me, lieutenant." The nameless lieutenant did not make a comment. "Noble six, then." Keyes said. "And last we have John, not a member of Noble team."

The SPARTANS saluted the envoy. Picard waved them down and they sat. Emile put his feet on the table.

"I'm sure you're shocked from our recent alliance with the Covenant." Picard said.

"How could we make an alliance with an enemy we've fought for a third of a century?" Kat said.

"That's what I thought." Keyes said. "But, we are acting in humanity's best interest. We do not have the necessary manpower to hold back the entire Borg armada, so we have given the Covenant the firepower to assist us in repelling the Borg on the ground. The orbital defenses are holding back the Borg in space, and will be assisted by the remaining fleet when it finished repairs. One ship has already finished, with two expecting completion within the day."  
Picard turned to Carter. "What is the extent of Borg presence in the city you were just at?"

"The Borg have come in great numbers, though the bulk of their forces engaged Noble team. We were almost overtaken, but the timely arrival of the Master Chief greatly assisted us. We have not been given an update on the forces that are still in New Alexandria; we were taken here soon after the Borg were cleared out."

Picard turned to Data. "Mr. Data, did you take a scan of Borg lifesigns in New Alexandria when we were on the _Enterprise_?"

Data accessed his memory banks, trying to find the record of his scanning and the result. The process took .006 seconds. Data paused to give the humans the impression that he was thinking. "I scanned a total of seven hundred and sixty thousand Borg drones in the city of New Alexandria alone. The Borg severely outnumber the military personnel stationed there."

"Suggestions?"

"Do the Borg have any weaknesses?" Carter asked.

"If we knew they had a weakness, I don't think we would have made the alliance with the Covenant." Jun said. Noble Six nodded.

"The only advantage we know of is that the Borg energy shields do not absorb any ballistics projectile: bullets." Riker said. "But seeing that your forces are 'severely outnumbered', we don't have the manpower to take it back by force."

"The Borg gain power over their opponents by adapting to the tactics of their opponents, making the strategies used null." said Picard. "That would allow them to walk in and assimilate all the technology they don't know into their Collective."

"So we might as well evacuate the city." Kat said.

"What to do with the city itself? We can't leave it and let the Borg assimilate the technology there." The tallest Spartan, John, said. He looked as if he were too tall for the chair.

"We might have too basic technology for the Borg to be interested in." Emile said.

"What kind of military facilities are in the city?" Riker asked.

"There are several shipbuilding companies and weapons manufacturing companies headquartered with facilities." Keyes answered.

"I suggest we systematically purge the facilities of their technological importance."

Carter shook his head. "It'll take too much time. And there are too many Borg to deal with it."

"We could blow it up." Jun said, not serious.

Emile took his feet off the table and everyone looked at Jun.

Data thought. It was a valid strategy. Eliminate both the technologies and the Borg at the same time. But the cost was a whole city. They had to let the Covenant know, assuming they agree to the evacuation.

Picard pondered the idea. "It could work."

"How'd we do it?" Riker asked.

"We have a class of nuclear bomb that will take something the size of New Alexandria out." Keyes said.

"Data, is there a place in the city where the explosion would destroy as much as possible?" Picard asked.

"I do not have the sufficient information to make that decision Captain. I would need the payload of the explosive and to take detailed scans of the city. It will take me no more than thirty seven minutes, seventeen seconds."

"Very well. Mr. Data, I want you to beam back to the _Enterprise_ and make that scan."

Data nodded. "At once sir." Data stood and walked out of the room. He tapped his combadge and told O'Brien that he was ready to be beamed back.

* * *

Keyes was surprised at how little resistance there was from the SPARTANS about the Alliance. It might have helped that "follow orders" has been written into their DNA about a dozen times.

John was giving the congregation a briefing on their current tactical standing. So far, there wasn't much change. The Borg are being held back with little to no casualties.

"We have received reports, however, of acts of violence breaking out in the Covenant camps between Elites and Brutes. The extent of the violence is brutal, its almost a rampage. I'm surprised it was limited to Elites and Brutes."

"It might be a blood feud." picard suggested.

"Do we have any previous indications that might explain these acts?" Keyes asked.

John shoook his head. "We know very little about Covenant society or socialogy. The ones that we have captured either refused to talk or killed themselves before they could be questioned."

The queit Lieutenant spoke: "Brutes are the epitome of arrogance. The only time they'll lower their noses is to shoot at you. Only a little bit. The Elites are what you'd call the perfect officer. They are hard-working, loyal to their subordinates, and they will follow orders when directed. But all in all, they act for the good of Elites or the Covenant."

"You sure know a lot compared to how much your intelligence probably has." Riker observed.

Emile chuckled. "That's hard to top, Commander."

"How do you know this, Six?" Kat asked.

"I've fought them enough. When you kill countless numbers of these things, you begin to understand them."

"If that's the case, we should all be freaking psychologists. John's been fighting these sons of bitches longer than us, he'd have a better understanding of them than you."

"I was too busy killing them to get a sufficient psychological profile." John stated.

"You've hardly fought brutes before this morning, Lieutenant." Kat continued. "You expect us to believe you?"

"That's enough, Kat." Keyes said, raising a hand. "It is true that the conditions of Noble six's diagnosis is unlikely, but its the best we've got."

"Actually," Picard said. "I might have an even better diagnosis." He tapped his combadge. "Picard to Troi."

"Troi here, Captain." A deep, sexy voice said.

"What is your profile on that alien that was on the _Enterprise_ earlier? Fleet Master Vadamee?"

"His kind holds honor in a very high place, almost as high as their respect for their leaders. If those leaders would lose that respect his kind hold, then the consequences would, i would say, either open rebellion or disassossiation with the Covenant."

"Which do you think is more likely? The Elites rebelling or leaving the Covenant" Picard asked.

"Well, along with that honor came a large amount of rivalry and almost hatred for another race of beings, but i couldn't give it a name. If the desicion that lost the respect of the Elites, if that's what we're calling them, were associated with their rivals, then first i would project that they take their revenge on their rivals and then leave the Covenant, effectively spitting on the face of their masters."

"Thank you, Counselor. Picard out."

Noble Six nodded slightly.

"So we might expect Elite refugees seeking shelter." Keyes said. "I'll brief the men." Keyes rose.

"Hold on, Captain." Riker said. "If captain Picard told me that we were taking in and feeding a hated enemy that we've been fighting for half our lives, I would be pretty damn mad. Do you honestly expect the common soldier to obey your orders without quetsion, and greet the killers of their friends and family with a warm smile and open arms?"

"I'm not telling the men to live with them, I'm telling them to expect their arrival and not to open fire. The most we might do is give them supplies, and that's pushing it. The best i would allow is them setting up a line farther away from the other Covenant and away from us. They can hold their own in a fight. Isn't that right, Six?"

"Yes sir." Six said with a possible hint of annoyance.

"Satisfied, Riker?" Keyes asked.

"For the moment." Riker said.

Keyes nodded. "Very well!"

"When Commander Data returns with the techninal scans, we can finalize the plans for this operation. But it needs a name." Picard said.

"The last operation was OPERATION:UPPERCUT." said Keyes. "That ended with a strategic victory but resulted in a great loss. I would call this OPERATION:COMEBACK."

"I don't think anyone has anything better than that." When no one did, Keyes filed the plan as OPERATION:COMEBACK.

* * *

**_End Ch. 7_**

So yeah. Long time no see. Last year acutally. Funny how we can say that only for about two weeks out of the year.

Again, I'm sorry that this is out so late. I've had a lot of awesome presents for christmas, and they've been keeping me busy at night and last week. If you guys are wondering, I'll give you my Xbox gamertag and my Battlenet username. JUst in case you guys wanna hit me up on that, let me know in a review or something. Surprise me. Drop me a review for opinions on the story or this chapter. Until next time!~

BattleNet - WiNg

Xbox Live - Arcadia37541


	8. COMEBACK Part 1

_**A/N**_: I'm teaming up with Sugar from the two-person team of Sugar & Darkness to write a fanfic. It's still in early stages, but I'll let you know on its progress! :)

_**Ch. 8: COMEBACK Part 1**_

Noble Six thought the process that equipped his armor was extremely too prolonged. First, the technicians had to strap on the gloves, boots, guards, chest plate, etc. Then they had to synchronize his helmet's HUD with his vital signs. Then, the helmet, which people tend to think is very easy to take off, is practically welded on. After all, part of the helmet plugged into Six's neural system.

After four hours of straight standing up and not moving, Six stepped down off the small platform that assembled his armor for him. _This always takes too damn long. I don't know why I ever take this off._

The android Data had completed his scan of New Alexandria. Turns out to receive maximum destructibility, at least two nuclear devices would be necessary. They would lay three just to be sure. Noble Team was split in half and the _Enterprise_ had sent a team to ensure maximum decimation of the city. The _Enterprise_ itself was unable to beam them in and detonate them as the Borg had set up a pattern scrambler long ago.

Six's small team comprised of him, Carter, and John. Six was uneasy about John, the fact that he single-handedly killed most of the Borg that were attacking Noble Team before. Six shook his head slightly. _No time for becoming jealous. You were trained to prevent this._

The team was transported via shuttlecraft from the _Enterprise_ to as close as it could to the coordinates. That still requires walking half a mile to the objective.

Six hopped off the door in the back of the shuttle and surveyed the area. There were already signs that the Borg were assimilating the landscape.

"Let's move." Carter ordered. "Six, you've got point. John and I will bring up the rear."

"I can still handle myself, Commander." John said.

"I understand that, Chief. But in my eyes you are a bigger target than either than us, and you'll need extra protection if the Borg get scent of our plans."

"Understood."

"We know where to go. Lead the way six." Carter readied his DMR, straight ahead.

Six walked steadily towards the hospital; seventy floors up to their objective. There were no sounds, just the sound of the SPARTANS' footsteps.

"_Enterprise,_ this is Noble Six. Nearing the hospital."

"Acknowledged, Noble." Commander Riker came back.

Data's scans had also exacted the number of Borg defending/laying siege to New Alexandria, which was close to forty three million._ If the Borg had come before the Covenant, we would have been at full military strength; they would have gotten their asses handed to them._

"This is John. We're entering the hospital. No signs of hostiles." John reported.

A green light pinged on Six's helmet to confirm acknowledgement.

They neared the door to the hospital. Carter ordered Six and John to opposite sides of the doorway, aiming his DMR ahead.

"Six, open the door on my command." Six put his finger on the door control as Carter counted down.

"Mark!" Six pushed the button.

The door opened to black mist and smoke. "No hostiles visibly present. Switching to thermal." As Carter stared into the blackness, a number of red dots appeared on him. Six leaned in to see what they were. Inside were dozens of lasers, pointing back and forth. Six switched to thermal vision to confirm his fears. The thermal outlines of numerous Borg were shown. Six cursed to himself and readied his assault rifle, aiming to fire.

"Wait, Six." Carter said, holding up his hand. "They don't think we're a threat."

Captain Picard came on the comms. "Correct, Commander. The Borg will not attack you unless they perceive you as a threat. But venture deep enough into the city and they most likely will."

"We're not going to be here very long. I doubt they'll attack us."

The three Spartans tip-toed their way through the seemingly endless amount of Borg drones.

"Elevator in sight. Thirty meters." Six reported. Three green lights winked on Six's helmet, two from his teammates and one from COMMAND.

Six hadn't lowered his weapon since they got off the shuttle. The Borg were still an enemy, regardless of if he wasn't perceived as a threat.

Just like the millions, if not billions of Covenant fighting against the Borg with his comrades. Noble six wasn't kosher with the alliance, but he understood that sometimes there are bigger fish to fry.

Six keyed the elevator to arrive and turned around, scanning for any Borg watching them. None had noticed them, nor seemed aware of their existence. The elevator arrived, and John stepped in, then carter, then Six. Carter pressed the button to close the door. As the doors closed, Six saw a drone turn his head and look at the strike team.

"This is Team Alpha. We're in the elevator, heading to the objective." Carter reported, as the elevator hummed up.

"Command, we might have tripped the Borg's awareness. They might expect us as a threat now." Six said.

"That's alright, Noble." Keyes said over the radio. "You've got enough firepower and ingenuity to rip through hundreds of Borg drones. And that's just you. You've got two other SPARTANS with you. You'll be fine."

"Understood sir. Alpha Team out." Six said.

The silence was filled with muzak, which surprised Six that it was still operable.

"We're approaching the objective floor."

There was no sign that the Borg had been on this floor. John was the first out. "There aren't any Borg on this floor yet, fortunately. Setting up the bomb."

"Sir, why haven't we been hearing sit-reps from Bravo Team on the radio?" Six asked Carter while John armed the nuclear warhead.

"They're on an undisclosed channel, Six. Just in case if something happens we won't hear it and lose our focus. And we can't try and find their channel too. Ours has been decrypted both ways, so the only people that can hear us are ourselves and command on the other end." Carter said plainly.

Six jumped through radio frequencies. All the channels he tried couldn't be accessed. So it was true.

"John, how much longer?" Carter asked.

"Three minutes at the most." John replied.

"You got two."

"Yes sir."

"Sir, I'm getting motion signals. About two floors under us." Six called.

"Go to X-ray, Six. Find out how many we're dealing with."

After a brief pause, Six said: "Too many to bother counting, sir."

"John stay on the bomb, keep us posted on your progress. Six you're on that hallway. I don't want to see any Borg alive walking down it."

Six acknowledged and readied his rifle. _About time I get to shoot some of these sons of bitches._

Six waited patiently as the Borg motion signs grew closer. Finally the Borg were on the same floor. Six turned off the safety.

The ground started shaking. Six looked down at the floor, which had started to develop faint red spots all over, slowly turning brighter. The biggest ones in a circle around John.

Carter noticed too. "Six, get down their and turn them off, NOW!" he yelled.

Six put his rifle on his back and punched through the floor. A crater. Three more times. A small hole. A jumping kick down. Total submission. Six pulled out his assault rifle in midair and held down the trigger for all of the 32 shots in the clip.

The Borg heating up the floor above were not drones. They were combat drones, with instead of a claw for an arm, they had guns. _About time._

"Noble Six to Command. We've got Borg attack drones down here. Tactical evaluation?"

"Standby, Lieutenant."

Six waited impatiently as he went through another two magazines. "Command, what is your tactical estimate of these Borg attack drones?" Six repeated, with a fervent tone in his voice.

"Don't get shot." Came the reply.

_Don't need to tell me that_.

Six slammed the butt of his rifle into three consecutive combat drones and shot six more. Just over a dozen left. Six was running low on ammo for his MA5C and switched to his shotgun. One blast demolished the frontal armor of the Borg tac-drones. Six had to replenish shells about twice to capacity before the tac-drones were a smoldering pile on the floor.

Proud of his work, Six holstered his shotgun on his magnetic clamp in his back. He gripped the ceiling and hoisted himself through the hole he had created moments before. Part of the floor had melted away around John, but not seriously.

"Let's go, Six. Bomb's armed. We need to leave."

Six might have heard John say over the comm link "I think I might have to do this again sometime…"

As Team Alpha stepped into the elevator down, Six asked: "Sir, how long do we have?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"That's cutting it awfully close, sir. Don't you think that might give the Borg a large amount of time to disarm the bomb?"

"The reason I took so long," John intervened, "was to add the appropriate safeguards to the bomb's arming matrix. The system I installed would take our most advanced AI several _years_ to make significant headway to cracking it."

Six was convinced. They still needed to bolt out of the hospital if they were going to make it back to the shuttle and get out of range before the bomb went off.

As the elevator doors opened, where originally were dozens of drones stood none, as if they had walked away from their post moments before.

Suspicious, Six kept his assault rifle ready in case a drone got the jump on them. This, in retrospect, wasn't very likely.

Six could see the doorway out after minutes of silence walking through the Borg-ified hospital. After checking his motion tracker one more time, which came up negative, Six holstered his MA5C and walked to the door.

Oh, what a poor decision. Instantly, a dozen Borg tac-drones appeared and level their weapons. Six dropped and took out his assault rifle. Carter's DMR went off, and Six saw three tac-drones in front drop.

"Move!" he commanded. "We gotta get the hell outta here!"

Six rolled forward and broke into a sprint, taking out his pistol from his thigh magnet. Six, with a pistol in right hand and a machine gun in the left, smiled as he unleashed two forms of fury simultaneously at the passing Borg. John's battle rifle, which fired three shots consecutively, was going off non-stop with _bttt_ every half second.

"Alpha, we've got five minutes left. We need to triple time it!" Carter ordered.

Six holstered his weapons and ran as fast as he could, his heart rate reaching 125 bpm. "Shuttle in sight." Six said as he checked the timer, which had just passed 3:30.

Six crashed into the inside of the shuttle. Luckily there was a force-field specially calibrated to disperse movement. Six slammed into it and didn't bounce off. Six jumped out of the way as Carter and John crashed in as well. Six banged on the bulkhead to signal the pilot, who promptly took off.

Carter took off his helmet and gasped. "We've got three minutes! Push this thing as far as you can go!"  
"Yes sir!" The pilot replied.

Six saw the hospital shrink into the distance. The waypoint on his visor displayed the distance from the bomb, which quickly grew from single digit kilometers to triple digit. Six noticed out of the corner of his eye two more shuttles flying away.

"_Enterprise,_ all teams are out of the Borg's dispersal field! Beam us up!" The pilot called.

"Standby. Locking on." O'Brien said.

Six's view changed from the inside of a shuttle to the transporter pad on the _Enterprise_. O'Brien looked up as the four of them stepped off the pad. The doors opened and an officer with red skin, a black ponytail and a wrinkled forehead stepped in. Six didn't pay the alien particular attention; he had seen plenty of freaks lately. *coughbrutescough*

"Greetings. I am Worf, the security chief aboard the _Enterprise_. I am to take you to Captain Picard and Commander Keyes."

Worf turned and led the way to the observation lounge.

Picard was staring outside the windows. He turned to see his guests, and pointed down to the planet below. Six gazed out the window, to where Picard was pointing. A large city. Then, suddenly the city turned into flame as three FENRIS nuclear warheads detonated, pulverizing the city of New Alexandria into little itty bitty bits.

"The other two teams should have been here by now." Miranda Keyes said, sitting at the table looking at a tablet. "We haven't gotten a report from them since they left the hospital after they armed the bomb."

"Do we still have their shuttle transponders?" Picard asked.

Miranda tapped some things on the tablet. "We have one, but its crashed. We're not picking up the other."  
"Which one is crashed?" Carter asked. There was a possibility half his team was dead or dying.

"Team Beta, the rest of Noble Team."

Six heard a slight sigh from Carter. He wasn't ready to lose someone else, Six thought.

"I read all four lifesigns from the Beta shuttle, but I can't find anything for Gamma. But their bomb went off, luckily."

Picard sat down and picked up a tablet. "I don't count a mission as completely successful if there are casualties, Commander. Specifically, my men."

"Captain, you must understand that there must be casualties in war…" Keyes replied.

"I understand that. But I operate with as little casualties as projected, which were zero. That's how many I plan to have by the end of the day." He tapped his combadge. "Mr. Data, scan for human lifesigns around the remains of New Alexandria."

"Acknowledged." Picard waited as Data conducted his scan. "I read six lifesigns from the two teams, Captain. One is fading. Both teams lie inside the Borg dispersal field. It appears to be coming from an alternate location than we projected."

"Picard to Crusher. Report to Transporter room one with a medical team." Beverly acknowledged. "Carter, I want you to escort the medical team to both teams."

"yes sir." Carter said.

"Mr. Worf and a security contingent of three men will accompany you." Picard looked to Worf, who nodded and left the room. "Commander Keyes, is there anything you can do to help us?"

"I can get you a few warthogs. Two transports, one with a LAA gun."

Picard nodded. "Give us their coordinates and we'll site-to-site transport them." Picard turned back to Team Alpha. "I guess you're going back, men."

Six shrugged. "It just starts to blend together eventually, sir. Everything becomes a smoldering landscape eventually."

"Especially when you've fought as many battles as me." John said.

Picard nodded. "You are dismissed. Head to the transporter."

Team Alpha turned and left the room.

As they walked to the transporter room, Six got some odd looks from passing _Enterprise_ people. _Guess they've never seen armor-clad warriors before. All this time cooped up in a ship._

Six walked into the transporter room. Beverly Crusher stood there in a blue doctor's coat tapping a tricorder with two other medical servicemen carrying a suitcase.

_I sure am glad my romantic emotions have been suppressed. This Crusher is beautiful._

She looked up. "Everyone here? Let's get to work then." She stepped onto the pad.

Carter extended his arm. "Wait, Doctor. There might still be hostiles down there. We should go down first and secure the area, and then you and the rest can beam down."

Crusher nodded, and made way for Team Alpha on the transporter pad.

O'Brien started the transporter pattern, and Six's gaze changed from the inside of a starship to a desolate wasteland of debris.

"Secure the area, Alpha." Carter ordered. Six took out his rifle and scanned the area. Six had to be conservative on this mission; he hadn't been given a chance to reload.

"Area secure." Carter said, holstering his DMR. "Get on the horn to the _Enterprise_, tell them beam down is good."

Six walked to one of the warthogs nearby and got in the driver's seat of the machine gun hog. He waited as the rest of the _Enterprise_ team beamed down. The security team in orange pulled something from their belts that might have been a weapon, but wasn't that intimidating. (A/N that's the one thing I hate about TNG. Real wimpy looking phasers.)

Satisfied, Worf put his phaser back and hopped onto the turret of Six's warthog. John stepped into the passenger seat and put his foot on the dashboard, elevating him enough to shoot at things efficiently. Carter selected a transport hog and started it up. The medical team piled into the back section, but Crusher wouldn't get in.

"You're going to have to get in the back, ma'am." Carter said over his shoulder.

"That's going to be an awfully bumpy ride, Commander." Crusher said, her arms crossed.

"That's life for ya, Doctor."

She sighed. "Fine. I'm going to drive the other jeep then." She examined the front 'tusks' on the hog. "Or is it a puma?" She hoisted herself into the driver's seat and looked down at the pedals. Six rolled his eyes. Carter started to get out and help her, but Six waved him off and did it himself.  
"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Why are there six pedals and only four directions?"

"Do you know how to drive, Doctor?"

"Um…"

"Ok. No." Six spent ten minutes explaining what the six pedals do. He got back in his hog and led the way to the crashed shuttle. Crusher brought up the rear learning how to drive .

* * *

_**End Ch. 8**_

This chapter had about everything in it. Talking, action, and a little bit of emotions, as bad a writer I am at that. Drop a review what you think.

Now about that fanfic I was telling you about before at the beginning of the chapter. I'll go ahead and spill a bean: It's Tron. That's all for now, though. Until next time!


	9. COMEBACK part 2

_**A/N:**This was supposed to be out several weeks earlier, but I lost track of time with loads of homework and friends. Plus Starcraft is kind of consuming my life :)_

**(The franchises Star Trek and Halo do not belong to me. Halo belongs to Bungie and Star Trek to CBS)**

_**Ch. 9: COMEBACK Part 2**_

Ensign Gary Ushima cradled his arm, He was sure it had been broken in at least two places when the shuttle crashed. One of the SPARTANs made a sling for it using some of the wreckage. Very maneuverable, a sling made out of twisted metal.

The SPARTAN in green armor never took his face off his sniper rifle scope. It almost seemed as though he were waiting for something. _Probably more Borg. Maybe the ones that shot us down._ thought Ushima.

The light blue armored SPARTAN was working on an exposed plate in the shuttle. She was trying to patch a signal to command, but since there wasn't anything non-Borg in the wiring, it might be a while.

The last SPARTAN, with white/tan armor with a skull scratched onto his faceplate was busy using the wreckage from the shuttle to try and great a barricade. The shuttle wasn't that big, but the SPARTAN knew what he was doing and was making a pretty good fortress.

Originally, Ushima's team comprised of Lieutenant William and Commander Parsons, and was the first to activate their explosive, and took off first. They received a distress call from the other SPARTAN team, who was taking fire from the Borg, their shuttle location already compromised. Parsons ordered Ushima, who was flying the shuttle, to give them backup and an extraction point. They were able to repel the immediate Borg and the SPARTANS boarded the shuttle. The shuttle was shot down by a high-powered disruptor burst just as it left the danger zone from the nuclear blast. Ushima was the only survivor of his team.

Ushima smiled despite the pain. He remembered there was a time on Earth where Asians often were joked about having higher academic and ninja like skills. He guessed it wasn't entirely true.

"Hey," he said the blue SPARTAN faintly. "Any luck trying to get a signal?"

"Not much. Whatever was left in this transceiver most likely incinerated when the engines overheated from that disruptor burst. I can't make any sense of it."

"Can you use it to boost your comms system in your helmet?"

"I did that first. It wouldn't recognize my system because it's probably from an alternate reality." The SPARTAN threw down her tools and stood up, dusting her hands. "Looks like we're going to have to take a little hike, boys."

* * *

Ushima's condition did not better. Now he was hot, sweaty, stressed, and injured.

"How much farther?" He asked.

"About another three kilometers until we're out of the dampening field." The tan SPARTAN said, turning his head. "Then your _Enterprise_ can beam us the hell out of here."

Ushima looked at the magnum in his good arm. He hadn't been forced to use it yet, as the SPARTANs obliterated a drone the millisecond it showed up.

Time went by as slow as a snail. How could the Borg maintain such a strong dampening field even though most of the city had been destroyed?

The tan SPARTAN walked beside Ushima. He noticed Ushima's weariness. "Relax little man. Think of all the people that are waiting for you back on your flying tin can." He said in an attempt to cheer him up.

Ushima would have perked up at the thought of his loved ones. "Don't you dare call the _Enterprise_ a tin can, you piece of shit!" He spat. "My ship can blow up dozens of yours before even taking a scratch!"

"The claws come out at last. Then why isn't your ship on the front lines?"

"The _Enterprise_ is the flagship of Starfleet, which means that it has multiple uses, one of which can be a support or command role. Want me to dumb that down for you?"

"Remember who you're talking to, boy. We're winning this war for you."

"You're winning it under our leadership!"

"Calm it down back there!" called Jun. "You're going to bring the entire Borg Collective on us."

Ushima shot the tan SPARTAN a look and walked faster. He matched the blue SPARTAN's stride.

"How can you work with an asshole like that?" He demanded.

"The thing about the military is that you expect to get work done, not to be liked. Emil gets his job done. That's fine for me." She replied.

Ushima sighed. He just wanted to get back to the _Enterprise_ and back to his beloved Sophie, who was expecting their second child.

"How much longer till the extraction point?"

"2.8 Kilometers."

"Shit!"

* * *

Miranda Keyes stared into the distance on the bridge of the _In Amber Clad_. Most of the fleet's repairs had been completed, and the _Clad_ was one of the last ones left to leave drydock.

She thought of the last few days. Allocating resources, overseeing operations, listening to the chatter during COMEBACK, and scrambling warthogs for the rescue team. She keyed the comms button.

"Keyes to Strike Bravo." It was discovered that the Borg could hack the comms, so a code system was implemented, calling units the opposite of their purpose.

"Strike Bravo here. What do you need?" Answered Carter.

"What's your ETA on the survivors?"

"About the same as forty five seconds ago, the last time you called me Commander. We're five minutes away."

"You can't blame me for being worried, Commander."

"Who's blaming anyone?"

Miranda smiled. She had seen him without his face, which was unheard of for a SPARTAN. He was remarkably handsome.

Miranda frowned. _I can't be thinking those thoughts_. _He's been bred for war. They'll have suppressed his romantic urges. And I've got a war to fight as well._

She shook her head, trying to keep herself from those thoughts. "Alert me when something happens."

Carter's acknowledgement light went off. Miranda nodded and walked to a separate console, a screen with a representation of the map where the rescue operation was taking place.

The warthog convoy was speeding along towards the crashed shuttle. The SPARTAN's transponder beacons wouldn't be received until they get out of the dampening field still active by the Borg.

Miranda walked out off the bridge. She activated her personal comms system (PCS).

"This is Commander Keyes. I need an ETA on the _In Amber Clad_."

"She'll be ready in one more day, Commander." A voice replied.

"Acknowledged."

Miranda sighed. She couldn't stand not being on the front line, and she didn't care how many times she had said it. She had to do _something_.

Miranda walked out of the _Autumn_, into the drydock facility that was housing the ships still in repairs. Most of the surviving ships from the battle a week before had already finished repairs and were holding the line against the Borg/Covenant ships in orbit. Not one hostile ship had been seen in the sky.

The sound of an assault rifle going off caught her attention. There was no reason that someone would shoot in this area, since the closest combat was about forty miles away.

Miranda jogged to where she heard the sound, and a group of marines had their weapons trained on about several hundred Elites, one clutching his side as blood dripped from his wound.

Miranda ran forward and ordered the marines to lower their weapons. Most agreed, albeit hesitantly.

"What is going on here?" She demanded.

"These elites got the jump on us, and someone fired a shot." A marine said.

Miranda turned to the elites. "What did you do to surprise my marines?"

An Elite stepped forward, clad in armor contrastingly different black armor than the others. "We turned a corner at the same time."

Miranda sighed exasperatedly. Turning to the marines, she said: "You guys couldn't wait two seconds to find out what they wanted before shooting at them?"

The marines stared at the ground sheepishly. Miranda turned to the Elite in charge. "My sincerest apologies. We'll send a medic to patch your friend up.

"That will not be needed. We have our own. But let me introduce myself, for I believe I am important to your leaders. My name is Thel Vadum, commander of the Fleet of Ascendant Justice."

* * *

Picard settled into his ready room chair after a long day. Many people on the _Enterprise_ had needed him, not to mention frequent scouting runs across the surface. Almost nothing had happened, but it was still taxing. He ordered a hot earl gray from the replicator.

The hot tea revived his senses in an instant. He felt infinitely better. Picard put his feet on the desk and lounged.

His peace was not forever. After some minutes the door chimed. Picard lowered his feet and finished the last of his tea. "Come," he called.

Will Riker walked through the door.

"Captain, we have a situation planetside."

Picard pursed his eyebrows. "What sort of situation?"

"Apparently the elites have completely cut off ties with the Covenant and seek refuge in UNSC territory. They have also volunteered to fight."

"What is Captain Keyes's reaction to this?"

"He's called his senior staff into a meeting, and he's also requested you come as well. He's taking this very seriously."

Picard nodded. His several minutes had been enough peacetime. "Tell the captain I'll be beaming down momentarily." He stood.

"Captain, there's something else." Riker continued. "The leader is Thel Vadum."

"I thought it was Vadumee."

"The 'ee' suffix the elites wore has been dropped in their splitting from the Covenant."

"So their cutting off any and all ties…" Picard murmured. "Ironic that the leader of a great army now has to bargain for his army's survival." He said out loud.

"I find it fitting." Riker said.

Picard thought on the subject for a second more and left his ready room. "Alert me if anything happens. You have the bridge, Number One."

"Yes, sir."

Picard walked into the turbolift and to transporter room three. O'Brien straightened as Picard walked in.

"To the meeting room, sir?" O'Brien asked. The location had been frequently used, so O'Brien stored the coordinates in the computer.

"Yes, thank you Chief." Picard said, stepping onto the pad. Picard felt his skin tingle as his molecules were taken apart and reassembled in the meeting room aboard the _Pillar of Autumn_.

Upon seeing Picard beam in, one officer panicked and drew his sidearm, keeping it on the materializing Picard.

By the time Picard had fully beamed down, Keyes had ordered the officer to holster his weapon, angrily.

Keyes stood and shook Picard's hand. "Thank you for coming Captain." He said. Keyes turned to his staff. "This is Captain Picard of the _Enterprise_. He is my equal, so give him the same respect you would me.

The officers nodded and exchanged greetings as Picard sat down. Keyes remained standing.

"As all of you know, the remaining Elites here on Reach have completely cut off their ties from the Covenant, they'll join our side, but they'll be fighting as our allies, not under the same flag."

"Do you know what exactly prompted their leave from the Covenant?" asked an officer.

"They've told us they left because the Prophets have given them the ultimate disgrace. They haven't elaborated on that disgrace as of yet."

"What are you intending to do about them?" asked Picard.

"I would like to give them partial asylum, let them fight our line for a while and carve out their own territory."

"Why should we give these bastards any help at all? We should just leave them to rot." Another officer said.

"I will not stand idly while you commit genocide against another species." Picard said. "I am here as a representative as the United Federation of Planets, and I will safeguard all species' rights."

"What authority do you have in this meeting anyway?" The same officer said. "You're from an alternate reality! You brought us the Borg! We would have held the line against the Covenant if you idiots hadn't shown up!"

Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson chuckled. "The hell we would have. The Covenant were damn near to glassin' the whole planet any day now with that big fleet. Captain Picard saved us. We're holding the Borg back fine. We should thank the Captain."

Several officers nodded in agreement as their belligerent comrade sat down.

"I agree with Captain Keyes." Picard said. "We evacuate our troops from a certain line and let the Elites continue their front and establish their territory."

Keyes nodded. "Pass the word to the elites, commander." The belligerent officer left to carry out his orders.

Keyes sifted through some papers. "I also see that most of our fleet has finished repairs. What's the status of the space front?"

Miranda Keyes spoke up. She had been quiet most of the meeting. "Only the _In Amber Clad_ needs to finish her repairs. She took the biggest beating, but she'll be out by tonight. The Borg in space are being held back with no casualties. They have been sitting just outside our super MAC guns' range. I'd say they're gathering forces to launch an attack."

Keyes nodded to his daughter. "Make sure what preparations are needed be carried out to repel that attack." Miranda nodded and left the meeting.

Beverly Crusher thought she just about got driving down. She had realized that the different pedals signify changes in gear; five gears and one brake pedal.

* * *

"Dr. Crusher, this is Carter." Crusher heard from the radio on the Warthog. "We're about to arrive at the shuttle. Prepare your medical equipment and personnel."

"On it commander." She tapped her combadge and repeated the orders.

They arrived at the shuttle, which was half whole, half in pieces. From the positions of the debris, it looked like someone had tried to fortify their position. Crusher was surprised at how efficient the builder was.

Crusher gathered her materials and swung her leg over the warthog side. Carter was already out. He had his hand out, telling Crusher to stay in. In his other hand was his pistol. Noble Six was out of his hog as well, his DMR scanning for enemies. John and Worf were still in their warthog, both scanning the area.

"Area appears clear." John reported after some minutes.

"Agreed." Carter said. "Doctor, get to work. But keep your boys on their toes. There could still be an ambush at any time."

Crusher now jumped out of her hog and waved her medics over to the wreck. She pulled out her tricorder and scanned for life.

"Commander, there aren't any forms of life, dead or living." Crusher said after a few minutes. "They're not here."

Carter didn't look like he was listening. He had his finger to the comlink in his helmet. He finally nodded.

"Get back in the hogs, people. Our survivors are mobile." He climbed into this warthog again. "_Enterprise_ just picked up my team's transponders."

Crusher jogged back to her hog and drove off after Carter and Noble Six, who had sped ahead. "How far are the survivors?" She asked.

"Five minutes." John said.

"Doctor, were you able to ascertain what shot that shuttle down?" Asked Carter.

"From what I scanned, there was a high concentration of disrupter particles. They might have been shot down by a disruptor burst. But in order to break through shields and total a shuttle in one shot would have to be pretty damn powerful. Only a ship weapon would have that kind of power."

"They might have salvaged debris from the battle above." John suggested.

"May be." Carter said. "Still, let's be cautious."

No later than did he say that did Borg Choppers appear and open fire on the convoy. The choppers were only slightly altered, with only black and dark green wiring and no pilot. They seemed to be controlled remotely.

Noble Six's hog reacted instantly, john unloading his MA5B rifle and Worf wasting no bullets on the Light Anti Aircraft Gun.

One of the choppers skimmed carter's warthog. The inertia flipped it over, and again, landing it on its wheels.

"You guys go!" Six yelled. "We'll handle this!"

"Like hell you will!" Carter replied.

"Sir, you don't have any armaments. And the doctor isn't of much help." John said coolly. "Floor it and leave these sons of bitches to us."

"Doctor, he is right." Worf said.

Beverly pressed both her feet into the fifth gear pedal. The speed drove her into the seat, but away from the battle. She checked in the mirror to keep an eye the progress of the battle as long as she could while Carter caught up to her.

* * *

Noble six cursed himself for not expecting this. He was trained to realize these kinds of situations since he was a child.

Six turned power-braked hard and let a chopper whiz by and get rained by Worf's turret. Six saw pieces fall off in the side mirror.

Beside him, John put his gun on his back and turned to Six. "Cover me!" He said and jumped out of the warthog.

"Wait!" Six cried. John was already a dozen feet behind him. "Damn." Six pulled out his pistol and emptied his clip at a parallel-passing chopper. Upon closer examination, noble Six did see a grey head peering at him, one eye a laser pointer.

"John!" He called. "There are riders!"

Six got an acknowledgement signal from John. "Worf, how's that turret holding up?"

Worf didn't answer. Six smiled. Whenever someone was in that turret, they always replied. Worf was so dedicated he didn't let anything distract his attention. All those years of "Klingon" training, Six thought.

Another shopper was riding parallel to him. Six one-handedly reloaded his pistol and took aim. He fired once. In the rearview he saw the chopper slow, and then stop, the grey head barely recognizable.

Six looked forward and saw a chopper boosting directly towards him. Six turned to the right, but knew it was futile.

Suddenly the chopper exploded into a purple flames and black wreckage. John, on another chopper had plowed through it, previously damaged from Worf's turret. He gave Six a thumbs-up. Six nodded in return and power braked in the direction of the other two hogs.

Carter nursed his arm. The "tumble" with that one chopper had left it on a constant state of pain. He knew the enhanced healing properties he was given would heal it, but it would stay sore for a while. And it hurt like a bitch.

The waypoint in his visor showed the distance to his team. Less than three hundred meters. They had come into sight. A Starfleet officer noticed and started waving, a pistol in his hand.

Carter let off the gas and idled to a stop beside the team. "Taxi, anyone?" Crusher braked hard and created a large dust cloud beside him. She jumped out, tricorder in hand.

"Ensign Ushima," she began. "This is by far the most reckless you have ever been! Piloting anshuttle on a dangerous mission! Sophie would be furious!" She kept going long after Carter cared.

Carter looked at the other half of Noble Team. "How're you holding up, team?"

"A little sweaty," answered Kat. "But ready to get the hell out of here."

Carter nodded and pointed to the back. "Hop in."

Jun agreed and claimed a seat in the transport hog as Emile took a seat on Crusher's Hog, equipped with a Gauss cannon. Emile cocked the gun and scanned the area. Kat hopped in the passenger seat of Carter's hog.

"Doctor when you're ready, load you patient in the back and we'll get the hell out of here."

Crusher pressed something to the Ensign's shoulder and slapped him there. She walked back to her hog and started the engine.

"Command," Carter called. "This is Strike Bravo. We have the survivors and are ready to proceed to extraction."

"Copy that, Bravo." The operator replied. "Sending coordinates to evac via Pelican."

The waypoint appeared on Carter's helmet as a few miles away. Carter started the engine and turned in that direction.

Out in the distance, Cater heard chopper engines. "Attention, Noble. We've got hostiles incoming. Keep your eyes peeled." Carter also discerned a warthog's engine along with more choppers.

Six's warthog zoomed over Carter's hog from a sand dune as a ramp. The turret was blazing. Carter looked in that direction and saw half a dozen Borg Choppers, all in formation and boosting simultaneously.

"Hostiles! Choppers to the west! Engage!" Carter heard Crusher chuckle over the comm. Emile opened up with his Gauss cannon and totaled a chopped after a few shots.

"Damn it!" Emile swore. "Keep me on them lady!"

Crusher wasn't a marine. She didn't know how to drive according to her gunner.

"Doctor! Stay on your present course!" Carter ordered as he eased his warthog parallel and adjacent to Crusher's hog. Kat stood in a crouch as she realized what Carter's idea was. She reached over and grabbed the wheel as Crusher dove from her seat into The passenger seat of Cater's hog. Kat jumped fully into the driver seat and veered off, Emile silently happy.

Carter pulled out his DMR from his back and handed it to the Doctor.

"I hope you know how to use one of these, Doc."

* * *

Sorry again it's taken so long to get this out. I wanted it done in late January, but LOTS of things have happened and I couldn't bring myself to Microsoft Word. So I decided to stay up and type since I didn't have anything better to fo. :D Drop a review to let me know what you think. Until next time!~


	10. COMEBACK Finale

_**A/N:**_ Don't be surprised if there is a gap between chapters. (Like there already isn't one already) I'm under a lot of stress from school and extracurricular stuff and I probably won't have time to write. But I'll still try and get these out! Enjoy!

* * *

_**Ch. 10 COMEBACK finale**_

Doctor Crusher blinked at the weapon Carter had just handed her. "I-I'm sorry?"

"You're going to have to use this for me!" He said with pain. "Just point shoot!"

"But I'm a doctor! I _heal_ people, not kill them!"

"These are not people! These are machines! Take it doc; I can't drive with a bad arm!"

Crusher reluctantly took the weapon and held it gingerly in her hands. She turned around and found a chopper rider and fired. The recoil dug into her shoulder, but the pilot received a headshot. She squealed with joy, but grimaced at her shoulder.

"Ouch!" Crusher murmured, rubbing the place the DMR had dug into. "That's going to bruise."

"Keep shooting doc!" Carter called.

Crusher jumped and brought the DMR back to sights. She took out two more chopper pilots, but depleted the magazine unknowingly.

She was aiming at a pilot whose head was incredibly exposed and pulled the trigger. The DMR _click_ed in response. Crusher looked at the gun curiously.

"It won't shoot!" she complained to Carter. She turned to see Carter with his hand out, another magazine in his hand. "Press the button next to the trigger to release the first cartridge. Then put in the second cartridge and pull back the bolt."

Crusher took the magazine, and followed his orders, albeit slowly and confused. She was satisfied when the electronic display read "15" in bright letters. She leveled the rifle to fire again. She lowered it when she realized there were no more choppers around to shoot at. She placed the weapon on her lap and sat in the seat.

"Do you need this anymore?"

Carter shook his head. "I probably won't be able to use again for a few days."

Crusher looked forward and saw three Pelicans fly over and touch down some hundred yards ahead. Seconds later a green explosion rocked two and sent them veering, a third shot nearly missing the last Pelican.

"We've got banshees!" Carter shouted. Crusher raised her DMR to the craft as five banshees flew over the convoy. Carter pushed it down.

"That won't do much good. Here, have this." Carter reached behind the front seats and felt around for something. Finally he revealed a large, shoulder mounted weapon with two tubes and labeled SPNKR.

Crusher blinked at the weapon. "You want me to do what?"

"Look through the sight and lock on to the banshees. Fire when it starts beeping."

Crusher tentatively took her new weapon. She could hardly lift the clunky object, and struggled to put in on her shoulder. She did as Carter instructed and pulled the trigger.

The rocket zoomed out, almost pushing Crusher out of her seat. She watched as the rocket followed the purple craft and hit it dead on. The banshee was destroyed in a purple and white explosion as parts rained down. A parts of a Borg drone could also be seen.

The Pelicans damaged had righted themselves and had opened fire on the banshees. They succeeded in destroying one, but not before being damaged more.

"Strike Bravo, we won't last in this fight much longer. Take out those banshees for us!" The lead Pelican operator reported,

Crusher saw Carter look at Emile. Emile turned the turret around and opened fire on a skyward banshee. Several shots later it exploded.

Crusher found another banshee. She locked on and fired. The rocket boomed out of the tube for a second time, again following the banshee. Milliseconds before the rocket impacted, the banshee did a loop-de-loop and evaded the rocket. Seconds later, it was destroyed by Worf's LAAG.

Crusher looked through the sight at her third banshee. She noticed the symbols of two rockets glowing red simultaneously. She assumed they had been spent.

She turned and saw Carter again handing her two more rockets without taking his eye off the road. She took the rockets and replaced them from the used container.

She took aim again and totaled another banshee. There was one left. Crusher took aim for what she believed the last time and fired the rocket. The banshee evaded the rocket by turning a tight corner. The rocket kept flying into the horizon.

The banshee pilot was smart in evading its fire. Crusher heard Carter groan.

"Doctor, take the wheel!" He called.

Crusher replaced Carter's position as he jumped out of the speeding warthog.

He stood in the open, attempting to gain the banshee's attention. The banshee noticed Carter and dove to ram him. Crusher looked on in horror as the banshee flew closer and closer to Carter.

At the last second, Carter's shields glowed white. He kneeled and pounded his fist to the dirt in front of him. The banshee collided with the armor-locked SPARTAN and broke into a dozen pieces. Carter broke the lock and dusted his hands, surveying his work.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Carter said when Crusher drove to pick him up.

The Pelicans wobbly touched down, and the convoy boarded their transports as the Pelicans strapped their warthogs in.

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Shelby was called to the bridge. She nervously stepped into the turbolift and instructed it to take her to her destination. The lift beeped and hummed its way to the bridge, completely unaware of Shelby's discomfort.

The doors slid open. She marched out of the lift and stood to attention at the bridge. "Lieutenant Commander Shelby, reporting for duty, sir."

Worf was the first to address her. "The captain will meet you in his ready room."

Shelby blushed, ashamed of presenting herself to the captain when the captain was not present. She nodded and walked down the ramp. She pressed the doorbell button and entered when Picard called.

"Commander, I'd like you to meet Captain Jacob Keyes. He is commander of the ground forces planet-side."

The aged man stood and shook Shelby's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Commander."

Shelby nodded and reciprocated the greeting. She sat down.

Picard began: "The captain is present because you are the foremost expert on the Borg on this ship. He would like to discuss strategy with you."

"I would be happy to, Captain."

Picard nodded. "Will you beam down with the Captain and discuss the strategies with his commanders?"

Shelby nodded. "I will Captain."

"Good. You will beam down at once, then."

Shelby, Keyes, and Picard all walked out of the ready room. Shelby and Keyes were almost to the turbolift when, after Picard sat in his chair, one of Worf's consoles started beeping. After rapid typing, Worf reported his findings:

"Captain, I have detected a _massive_ Borg supercube entering the system from a vector of 285x346."

Picard turned around. "How are there Borg in this reality? Borg are native to our reality and were only transported with us when we came here."

"I do not know Captain, but the scanners are reading the cube to be fifty square kilometers."

Shelby had to grab the wall, she almost fell over. "Fifty square kilometers…?" She gasped. "That's the largest on record!"

Picard was quick to react. "Captain Keyes and Commander Shelby, get to the transporter room! Worf, take us into geosynchronous orbit and continue scans of that supercube."

"Aye Captain." Worf agreed.

Shelby and Keyes ran into the turbolift. They sprinted down the hall and shouted at O'Brien to beam them down.

When they beamed down, the military staff down there was in a rush of panic, confusion, and people. Keyes shouted to gain control.

"Send our ships to aid the _Enterprise_, but keep them in range of Super MAC assistance! Everyone get to orbital bombardment stations, and call off all attacks and tell them to hold the line! Await further orders!"

Shelby took this opportunity to tell Captain Picard. She tapped her combadge. "Shelby to Picard."

"Yes commander?" Picard replied.

"Captain Keyes is sending his ships to assist, but he's simultaneously ordering his soldiers to hold the line."

"Keyes is a defensive strategist. Tell him I appreciate his assistance."

"Yes, sir."

Picard cut the line as the _Enterprise_ flew into space. Shelby looked up and saw a dozen UNSC ships follow.

Keyes called for one of his officers. "Sergeant Johnson, you're in command while I'm gone."

Johnson saluted. "You can count on me, sir."

Shelby tapped Keyes on the shoulder. "Where are you going, sir?"

Keyes smiled. "You and I are going to fight the battle overhead. Since you're our strategist against the Borg, you'll be flying with me on the _Pillar of Autumn_."

Shelby's eyes widened. "What? When?"  
Keyes consulted his wristwatch. "In about four minutes. Follow me, or they'll leave with us." Keyes started off toward to what Shelby guessed was transport.

"Why would a ship leave without her Captain?" She asked, catching up to Keyes.

"It's happened before. The captain could not be located when the ship was needed in a fight. It took off and the first officer was promoted to acting Captain."

As Keyes was explaining, the transport took off and slowly turned to leave, leaving the cargo hatch open. Keyes waved at the pilot and the transport slowed more; it was already five feet out of the hangar.

Keyes ran harder and jumped across the air and landed feet first in the transport, having some soldiers catch him. Shelby sped to a sprint and followed suit, severely overshooting. Shelby was in much better shape than Keyes, and toppled a marine with his arms out for her. She apologized as she got off of him, having been knocked unconscious.

The Pelican touched down in the _Pillar of Autumn_'s hangar. Keyes and Shelby jumped out and jogged/ran to the bridge. Servicemen and women jumped out of their way.

"Status?" Keyes demanded as they entered the bridge.

"All ships are parallel with the super MAC's, awaiting us and orders."

Keyes nodded. "Fire only if fired upon."

The officer acknowledged and passed the order. Keyes turned to Shelby.

"What should we do?"

"Captain Keyes, we have had two separate engagements against the Borg. We hardly know anything about them."

"Is there enough to make a tactical evaluation?"

Shelby shook her head. Keyes frowned.

"What is the status of the _Enterprise_?" He asked,

"The _Enterprise_ is staying in geosynchronous orbit, prepared to assist if necessary." An officer replied.

"Captain, we're being hailed." Another reported.

Shelby and Keyes exchanged looks. "Put it onscreen." Keyes said.

Shelby saw Keys slightly flinch as he saw the Borg drone. "Admiral Hanson…" Keyes breathed.

"I am Talyrb of Borg." Hanson said monotone.

Keyes straightened. "What do you want?"

"We want your technology. Resistance is futile. The consciousness of the human, Hanson, has been absorbed into our Collective. We know all of your strategies and weapons. We have adapted to them already."

Keyes got the attention of his comms officer and made a slicing motion across his neck. The officer cut the screen.

"Can they do that?" Keyes asked.

"Why do you think we were running from them?" Shelby retorted.

"Do they adapt completely to our technology?"

"Yes. Something I've been meaning to try is to use large amounts of one thing and maybe overwhelm their shields."

"Sounds good enough for me. Cut the line to Hanson and get me a line to the fleet."

"Channel open, Captain."

"All ships, prepare for MAC launch and archer missile fire. Synchronize Archer launch to MAC impact. Fire on my mark."

Minutes passed before all ships acknowledged they were ready.

"Fire on my command. We have to do this all simultaneously."

Again they were ready. Keyes looked at Shelby and said one word. "Fire."

The ship rocked as the archer missiles were fired. They watched the missiles arc towards the cube. The ship violently lurched as the MAC round was fired. Shelby saw a glimpse of the other thirteen MAC shots.

The shots created explosions large enough to cover the facing side of the cube. When the explosions cleared, there were small sections of the cube were floating in space.

Keyes pumped his fist. "That oughta do some damage!"

From the Borg cube came a thin laser. It began cutting through the hull of the UNSC _Durandal_.

"All ships, fire another round!" Keyes ordered again. The ship lurched again as the MAC round was fired from the bow of the _Autumn_. The impact cut off the laser, but the _Durandal_ was still severely damaged. The captain radioed in that he had to retreat for repairs.

The Borg ship seemed to be heavily damaged. "All right, looks like only one more round is needed! All ships fire!" The ship lurched for what Shelby wanted to believe the last time.

Just as the MAC rounds were fired, three Borg-ified Covenant ships slipped in and took the shot, destroying them. Keyes stepped back. "Where the hell have these guys been?" He asked.

"Sir! More of those guys slipping in!" A dozen Borg Covenant ships slipped in. "They're activating weapons systems!"

"Reload our MACs and return fire. If they launch seraphs, launch our longswords." The orders were given and Shelby grasped the railing as she sighed. The Borg were about to be defeated, then these bastards show up out of nowhere.

"How damaged is the Borg cube?" she asked the bridge.

"Scans show limited power flow and scattered communications. Severe damage to the hull and extensive damage inside."

She turned to Keyes. "Any chance we can get one more round into their ass?"

Keyes shrugged. "We won't get full strength, but the _Autumn_ is able to fire three rounds consecutively."

Shelby nodded. "Good enough. Fire on my command."

Keyes gave the orders to reload the MAC but not to leave them defenseless. The there rounds were loaded and ready to fire. There was a Covenant frigate idling right in the _Autumn_'s sights. Keyes got on the comm.

"Someone take care of that frigate near the cube!"

Almost reactionary, three red glowing spheres appeared and slammed into the frigate. Shelby smiled as phaser beams weakened the shields further.

"This is Captain Picard. Leave that one to us."

The bridge watched as the nimble and maneuverable _Enterprise_ flew circles around the bulky frigate, exchanging fire. _Enterprise_ was constantly feeding photon torpedoes into the frigate, while receiving rapid fire plasma bursts and the occasional plasma torpedo.

Keyes sighed as he watched. "What I wouldn't give to have the _Iroquois_ again…"

"This is Picard. The frigate is severely weakened. Destruction imminent." Seconds later after two torpedoes and four phaser bursts the frigate disintegrated into a purple explosion.

"There's your opening, _Autumn_." Picard said. "See you back on the ground." The _Enterprise_ flew back out of the battle.

"All ships, retreat to S-MAC line!" Keyes commanded. The ships reversed without changing direction, still able to fire at the Borg ships.

The Borg covvie ships followed, ceasing their fire to pursue. The Borg cube crawled forward as well.

"Well, Shelby?" Keyes asked. "Care to give the order? Sometime soon, I hope."

"The Borg don't give you very many chances, Captain. We need to fully take advantage of that chance."

Shelby waited until the Super MAC cannons were firing. "All ships, fire!" she called. The ships fired as many rounds as they could, most only two rounds, _Autumn_ five rounds. They dug into the Borg superstructure of the cube.

The cube sat there for a minute. The humans stared in suspense as they prayed the cube would be destroyed. Chunks of the outside were floating in space. A full five minutes passed.

Finally energy readings dropped and spiked as the cube was vaporized into billions of pieces. Prior Keyes had quietly switched on the comm system to all stations. The cheers roused the spirits of the entire UNSC armed forces on Reach. The cheering was deafening on the ships.

* * *

_**End Ch 10**_

Fun chapter. Took freaking forever to get out. Sorry about that. There has just been SOOO much stiff. But I'm not using that as an excuse! My dedication to this story has been revamped! I will try my damndest to get more chapters out in a shorter amount of time! Also, review on my style of writing. I'm experimenting with a new kind in a different story I'm writing. Until Next Time!~


	11. Under the Cover of Silence

_**A/N: **_I apologize way too much. I also make excuses too much. In order to "cover" my ass again, it's been finals, which has severely limited my writing time. This should be an interesting chapter, since the elites haven't been heard from in a bit. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Ch. 11: Under the Cover of Silence**_

Thel Vadam stared out across the battlefield. His troops had fought for a section of land and claimed it in the name of the Sangheili long ago. The problem was trying to expand, as supplies were running low and the small territory was becoming a bit crowded. He looked up into the sky with melancholy. He had received a transmission not too long ago that the rest of the Covenant was under attack from the Borg. They would not survive.

There were no attacks recently, ever since the supercube had been destroyed in orbit.

"Fleet Master!" a low-leveled Sangheili said, running up. "We have reinforcements joining us from allies in High Charity."

"How many ships?"

"Three, two carriers and a corvette, all ready to deliver supplies."

Thel nodded. "Inform the humans and have the ships prepare to land."

The minor ran off to carry out his orders. Thel keyed a comlink to his aide. "Gather my best men in the command post." He ordered.

Thel walked to the command center and found his men waiting there patiently as he had ordered. Thel called to the operations manager to bring up a layout of the landscape around them.

The three dimensional holo-map in front of them showed a rather mountainous area, surrounding a large valley containing a river. To the west of the mountains, there was the Elite outpost with a few Borg drones attacking. To the south, there was a meteor crater converted into a lake, and on that lake a Borg Command for the region. To the east were more flatlands and abundant resources that the Humans considered to be useless.

Thel leaned over the display and gestured to the map. "Our objective is to capture and establish an outpost in this valley so we can have a space large enough for our incoming ships. Once we have secured it, we will destroy the Borg Command outpost here, on the lake and proceed to capture the resource rich region immediately after. I've had our tacticians draw up a timetable, and if we use sufficient force, we should fulfill our objectives within 24 hours of mission start."

"What's the drop going to be like?" One elite asked.

"We will be dropped off by phantoms in the night here." Thel pointed to an area several miles outside Borg scanner range, which was visible on the map. "We will hike to the outpost and activate our camouflage when appropriate. Borg drones can send transmissions instantaneously, so we must not be seen. If we kill one, we must kill all within range to ensure no word gets out. Once we get to the lake we shed our camouflage packs and activate our jet packs and fly across the lake. We'll go in guns blazing then."

"We won't be using our energy weapons, will we?" another asked.

Thel shook his head. "We're using human weapons with a special attachment that will drastically lower the sound of firing. They call it 'silenced'."

The elites murmured, apparently curious of this technology.

"We leave at dusk, which gives you five hours to prepare. Dismissed."

* * *

The former Arbiter gazed over the darkened landscape of what the humans called Reach. Much of it was scarred or ashen from signs of war, but some parts were becoming more robotic with the contamination of the abomination Borg. The phantom flew slowly; running quiet and cloaked simultaneously drew power enough to restrict speed. After all, it was easier to spot a quick cloak than a slow cloak.

From the bridge of the phantom, Thel could see the drop point highlighted over the viewfinder, a distance away. The pilot maneuvered the craft low, enough to just touch the tip of the tree tops.

"Lower." Thel ordered.

The elite turned around. "Are you sure sir? You can only _tie_ the record for lowest flight."

"Get as close as you can without making much noise." Thel turned and exited the cockpit and entered the main hold with the rest of his team. The elites checked their weapons and waited anxiously, some excited for actually doing something.

The last two weeks since the humans destroyed the Supercube have been nothing but holding position, causing some to go stir crazy. This operation and soon-after expansion should make things livelier.

"Sir!" the pilot called from the cockpit. "Two minutes to drop!" The black ops team of elites jumped out of their seats and cocked their weapons, and gathered around the center of the hold, to be lowered via the gravity drop.

Thel grabbed a silenced pistol and MA5C. "Ammo check! Camo check!" he called. All the elites pulled their gun's slide back and checked for full ammo and checked the power of their jet and camouflage packs. They were ready.

"Drop in ten seconds!"

The gravity drop opened and lit with power as the phantom slowed. The elites activated their camo packs and jumped down into hole. Had they fell under normal gravity, their landing would have been painful and loud. With the anti-gravity drop, they landed healthy and without a sound.

The team of two dozen elites spread out and began the hike to the Borg command compound. They went at a light run, their camo packs dispersing the sound of their footsteps and brushing foliage. The packs had enough power to maintain the cloak continuously for 18 hours without recharge and a snappy self-recharge to boot.

After ten minutes, Thel slowed and finally stopped, crouching, searching through the night with his night vision/thermal visor. Seeing no hostile anything in range, they pressed onward.

Thel knew they should have encountered at least proto drones by now. Thel reminded his team to stay quiet and alert.

Thel got what he wished for three minutes later. Seven proto drones were manning devices, Borg-ifying the landscape from what they could see. He called up the six front elites and told them each to take a drone. The communications servo on the drone was powered by an exposed wire hanging off the drones' back of head, and communications could be severed unnoticingly by cutting the line.

They activated their energy knives and counted down from three. They swiped the line and gutted the drones so fast an onlooker would have seen it at the same time. Judging from the absence of change from Borg comm activities, the elites deactivated the machines and pressed onward.

Thel's mission clock showed one hundred and forty minutes since touchdown. He called up a map of the operation and showed they were a third of the way to the shores of the lake. Additional scans and scouting had revealed the Borg had heavy air defenses, so in order to minimize casualties; the team would sabotage the air defenses on the way out for total destruction of the compound.

Borg drones were growing in concentration. To assassinate the drones would cause too much attention, so the elites resorted to shoot, melt into the shadows, and continue.

Halfway to the lake. Thel had gone through three mags of his pistol out of his seven. He saw a red laser sweep through the forest and fall on him. It passed him over, and then fell on him again, this time apparently aware of his presence, as Thel's motion tracker activated. He brought the MA5C to bear and scanned for his enemy.

What he got was dozens of drones and tac-drones marching out of the darkness, now aware of their intruders. The other elites picked up and raised their weapons.

The drones got closer, their ashen faces lowered in malice and disgust. Thel gave the order to fire, and the from the forest came the sound silenced gunfire and bodies dropping. The silencers were effective enough that the slide pulling back on the guns might have been louder.

"The enemy has detection and is aware of our presence. Move quickly and quietly. Weapons free."

The elites picked up the pace to a light jog/power walk as Thel's mission clock approached five hours. They were almost to the three-quarters mark, but since they had to stop every few minutes to dispose of drones, their progress was slowed.

By now Thel had dropped his pistol, out of ammo, and maintained his MA5C. Instantaneously, dozens, almost hundreds of red dots appeared on his motion tracker. He called his team to assume firing positions to front, and wait for his signal.

They waited in silence as what they assumed be typical combat drones waiting to be mowed down from a ways away. As their silhouettes got closer, Thel could make out their arms stretched in front of them. Their arms glowed purple or green as plasma rounds were fired.

"Disperse! Find cover!" Thel yelled as he dropped to his stomach and went full auto on the newly armed drones. Their bullets pinged off the drones as they glowed violet.

Thel got on his comm line back to base. "This is Fleet Master Vadam. We've received reports that the drones are using Covenant based weaponry and shields. Please reply."

The grunt on the other line replied: "You have a smaller timetable to take down those air defenses. We're going in with or without you. Base out."

Thel's mission objective clock got cut from nineteen hours to ten hours left. He scowled with the loss of time.

"Elites, we have less time that we thought. We must obtain our objective with more speed than the Borg will comprehend. We will show the abomination just what kind of enemy they're fighting!"

Some elites roared reflecting their raise in morale. Thel rose to a crouch as his elites slowly advanced, the drones still trying to locate their enemies.

The elites had killed a significant number of the drones by now, but they were going through ammo fast. Thel only had a few dozen magazines left for his MA5, and frowned at his supply.

"Elites, use swords to conserve ammunition!"

Elites roared as they unveiled their energy. Thel's army had created new versions of energy-based close combat weaponry, and, based on other designs from human history, had created a dual pointed energy spear, which the Fleet Admiral of Particular Justice unveiled and activated. Beside him, elites revealed their own swords, some using two, and spears.

"Charge!" Thel roared. The elites sprinted toward their stoic enemies as the drones tip-toed back upon perceiving a new threat. The energy weapons, cutting through shields and flesh alike, reduced the small army of Borg to pieces - literally.

They deactivated their bloody energy weapons, forcing the blood to fall. "Let's move." Thel called. The elites acknowledged and ran after him.

Smaller skirmished followed lasting no more than thirty seconds as the strike team approached the shores of the lake. The team raced out of the treeline and met hundreds of drones, arms raised and weapons charged.

"Dropshields!" Thel called, and what elites had them activated their drop shields, blacking all impacts and healing the small amount of injuries had.

"What now, sir?" an elite asked. Thel scanned the field. The Borg were in a curved line faced toward them. By now the shields were glowing light blue with loss of power.

"Step to the edge of the shields!" Thel called. The elites did do. "When the shields drop, reactivate them and continue the process!"

They were able to gain twenty feet of ground before the Borg rate of fire increased and the time between shield drops increased. Thel stood still as his shields recharged, almost depleted in that last bout.

"Fleet Master, we cannot last long like this. If we are to fight, let us charge now!"

Thel considered his options. "Huddle together!" The elites huddled as close as they could. "Drop shields enough to cover us!" Only three shields were used. "On my mark, prime a grenade and send it to the drones!"

Thel gave the signal in between the failure of a first shield and when it was replaced. Two dozen plasma grenades flew through the air and attached themselves to the drones. The explosions left pieces flying everywhere, and it was enough to disrupt the Borg rate of fire long enough for the elites to charge.

Thel spun his spear across and but three drones across the waist, and swung diagonal across another, opening him up. The whole time Thel knew he would have to be facing his former brethren, but no assimilated elites had been seen. Perhaps they were being used for an alternate function.

His comm line beeped again. "Fleet master. Intel shows a high value target in the compound. If you can, get in there and take him out. If you can't lower the air defenses and let us do the rest." Thel acknowledged.

The waypoint on his visor changed and fixed on a point high in the compound, most likely the observation post or main hub of communications.

The Borg numbers were falling fast, but the charge on Thel's energy weapons was falling as well, presumably along with the rest of the elites. The deactivated his spear and grabbed two plasma rifles from fallen drones. Other elites followed his lead and grabbed weapons from their dead enemies.

The last drone finally dead, the team activated the jet jacks from a running start and flew across the lake to the command post. The post was a few hundred meters from the shoreline, and the elites touched down with almost a full battery drained before the packs recharged.

"For our fallen brothers!" Thel roared as he ran into the compound, needle rifle firing. The elites followed suit, eliminating drones left and right.

They arrived at a junction across the whole compound, vertically and horizontally. Thel's mission objectives showed the targets: their assassination target and the defense controls. Thel turned to his second in command, Elite Major Rsel Depim.

"Rsel, take half the men and take out the air controls. The rest of us will eliminate the HVT." Thel said, referring to the High Value Target. Rsel nodded and took his men down a level and north, following the waypoint beacon. Thel led his men up, their jet packs newly charged.

Thel stopped at the second to top floor, and primed a grenade, along with a few others. They jumped and threw the grenades into the top floor. After a deafening explosion, they flew into the top floor, guns leading the way.

The bodies of drones were everywhere, but tall silhouettes were seen among the smoke, along with a floating ellipse object. The silhouettes emerged from the smoke, assimilated elites armed with the heaviest Borg weaponry to date. They raised their arms and began charging up. Thel dropped his gun, activated his sword and sprinted, covering the distance of thirty feet in less than five seconds. Thel slashed through one as another released the energy and slammed into Thel. The blast totaled Thel's shields and drawing blood. Another elite made fast work of another.

The guards fallen, Thel approached the elliptical target and turned it around. What Thel saw made him fall to his knees. How could the Borg have assimilated this one? The target eyed Thel curiously, not sure what he was doing. Thel's mind raced with the possibilities as he rose. It was possible, but how did they get him here so fast? He should be on the other side of the galaxy!

Thel raised his sword and dug it into the target, completing the objective. Not five seconds later, the other objective waypoint vanished as it was completed. Rsel had destroyed controls to the air defenses.

"Mission completed, Fleet Master." Rsel said over comm. "Shall we leave?"

"Yes. Let's." was Thel's response. Thel and his mini-team dropped back through the transport tubes to the initial level were Rsel and his team were awaiting him.

Upon seeing Thel's body language, Rsel said: "Brother, you seem troubled. What is wrong?"

"Later. Let's get the hell out of here."

Thel led the team out of the compound and flew back over the lake, heading to the evac point. Not long after, the whine of banshees and wraiths could be hard, along with a few seraphs. The wraiths' mortar guns boomed, and a dozen alls of concentrated plasma arced toward the compound, along with banshee bombs and rapid fire plasma rounds. The seraphs dropped a load of bombs on the compound and the gunners dished out the rest of the punishment as the compound fell apart.

Thel's comm beeped. "Fleet master we've read a job well done. The ships in orbit are beginning their descent. Mission successful."

Rsel put his hand on Thel's shoulder. "What did you see in that compound, brother?"

Thel didn't answer. When Rsel insisted, Thel spoke one word: "…gret."

"What, brother?"

"Regret. The Borg had assimilated the Prophet of Regret."

_**End Ch. 11**_

I stayed up late writing this for you guys. Hope you liked it! Drop of a review of what you think; it's been a while since one of those. I'll try to update more in a few weeks when testing is over, and I'll definitely update more over summer, count on that. Until next time!~


	12. Orders? We Dont Need No Stinking Orders!

_**A/N:**_ Why is it I always get inspired to write at almost 11 o'clock at night? It's weird. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

_**Ch. 12: Orders? We Don't Need No Stinking Orders!**_

Carter sat uncomfortably on the medical table in _Enterprise_'s sickbay. The bay was busy with patients recovering from the battle with the supercube some days before, but not that busy. The battle had caused no superficial damage, but the ship rocking around, at times violently, got people hurt. Carter rolled his eyes as people complained about things he wouldn't notice.

After ten minutes of waiting, Dr. Crusher walked to him, a PADD in her hand. (A/N: a padd is pretty much an iPad) She read the file, then examined Carter's arm. Carter's armor had been removed soon after the evac team had been beamed to _Enterprise_, and he soon felt like he was underdressed or almost naked without his armor.

Crusher prodded his arm in places. Pain arose, but Carter made no face. Blocking out pain had been an integral part in the SPARTAN training program. She noticed his stolidity.

"Is this a Spartan thing?" she asked.

"What?"

"The whole 'no pain ever' thing."

Carter shrugged. "How else are you to be the perfect soldier? Don't be hurt by pain."

Carter squeezed a delicate part of his arm, to which Carter winced.

"Uh-huh." She said sarcastically.

"And I'm to believe you _heal_ people?"

Crusher rolled her eyes and picked up what Carter learned to be a hypospray, which she pressed into his arm – delicately- and injected the antibiotics.

"There. That should take care of mostly everything. Just be careful with that. The bone still has to reset, but with the hypospray it'll happen faster."

"How long till I'm back in the field?"

Crusher re-examined her padd. "Maybe around a week."

Carter shook his head. "No. That's not an option. I need to be in the field in three days, at the most."

"The physician's orders supersede the commanding officer's, in this case."

Carter inwardly sighed. What was he going to do for a week? He had hardly been out of his armor for more than a week since he got it those sixteen years ago. Time flies when you fight innumerable battles.

Crusher cleared Carter, who left sickbay with nothing left to do. He walked to the transporter room, where Miles O'Brien was minding the transporter controls.

"Where to, sir?" He asked casually.

"The Pillar of Autumn, please. And have the engineers in the cargo bay beam down my armor as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Carter nodded and stepped onto the transporter pad. O'Brien initiated the beaming process. One second Carter was in orbit. The next he was planetside, instantaneous. Carter sought out Captain Keyes.

Keyes was in the conference room, overlooking reports and reviewing news, mostly from the elites' aggressive expansion move. Keyes looked like he approved of it; it was getting a bit crowded.

Carter entered the room and saluted. Keyes looked up and stared at Carter. He smiled and stood. "Sorry son. I almost didn't recognize you without your armor." Keyes extended his hand. Carter took it gingerly.

"Damn doctor's got me on a leash for a week."

"Doctors know what they're talking about, Carter. They save lives."

"We'd be saving more if I was out there."

"We'd _lose_ more if you were to die because of some stupid injury that would have taken a week to heal." Keyes returned to his work. "What do you need?"

"Permission to start a new initiative."

Keyes looked up. "Initiative for what?"

"New strike against the Borg. The elites have already caused terrible, terrible damage to the Borg, and now it's our turn."

"We blew up their supercube three days ago. What more do you want?"

"An effective way to end a war is to keep the pressure going."

"I'll give you that. But what are you suggesting?"

"Send my team to the remains of New Alexandria. Maybe there're some things we can scoop from under the wreckage."

"New Alexandria's a wasteland. You know what a nuclear explosion will do to a city, let alone two."

"The Borg might be doing the same thing as we speak. We can stop them in the process and extract additional information."

"We already have the information, Carter. We saved it onto our military database before the Alexandria net was purged."

"Then just a scouting mission."

"I can send a pair of falcons."

"My team will handle that."

Keyes waved his hand. "Check with Colonel Hamilton."

Carter saluted and thanked Keyes for his time. After leaving the room, Carter got on the comlink to the rest of his team, telling them to meet him at the hangar bay ASAP. When he arrived, half the team was already there.

"What's up, boss?" Jun asked.

"Doing a little recon over New Alexandria."

"Alexandria?" Kat asked, just arriving. "We're scouting over a pile of dust and echoes?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Emile countered. "It's not in our territory, so there's no one to check up on it. The Borg could be up to mischievous things, after all."

"Because there might be nothing out there. The city was destroyed by a pair of the biggest nukes we have. The Borg know that there isn't anything of importance there."

"There's a chance something survived." Carter offered. "But still, we need to make sure the Borg is not involved in the ruins."

John and Noble Six arrived and were filled in on the mission. Both agreed that reconnaissance must be made from time to time.

They found the flight chief, Colonel Hamilton, and requested permission to borrow a pair of falcons for the mission.

"Why would you want to recon a wasteland?"

"That's what I was thinking." Kat muttered.

Carter explained his theory to the Colonel, who was skeptical.

"I doubt there're Borg there, and that there's nothing out there to scavenge from the rubble. Permission denied." Hamilton turned and addressed some engineers waiting for him.

Emile sagged. "And I thought that we were actually going to do something other than just sit around."

Carter surveyed the hangar and found two unused falcons. A pilot was leaning on one, asleep or daydreaming. Carter approached the pilot, who did not raise his head.

"Excuse me." Carter said.

The pilot lifted her head and removed her helmet. Long brunette hair flowed from it and settled nicely on her shoulders and on her back. She had a pale complexion, and she had a remarkable beauty. (A/N: Am I saying that right? I wanna say she was white and beautiful, but I suck at physical descriptions.)

"How can I help you, sir?"

"Do you pilot this falcon?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Carter examined the two falcons. They had seen action, evident of their plasma burns and scratches.

"Thank you." Carter turned and walked away, his team following him.

"Hey!" The pilot called. Carter turned.

"You need something?" she asked.

Carter shook his head and walked back. "Just entertaining an idea."

"What kind of idea?" asked the pilot.

Carter put his hand on the falcon's bulkhead and tapped fingers against it. "Nothing, just that I'd take these out for a spin. I've always wanted to fly one." Carter had flown a falcon dozens of times. Tapping his finger on the bulkhead, Carter spelled out _meet us in the hangar tonight at midnight. Make sure no guards. Prepare for takeoff_ in Morse code.

The pilot blinked a few times, translating the message. "I can arrange that, if you want."

"You would? Thank you." Carter replied.

"Anytime."

Carter turned and walked back to his team, staring at Carter. "What was that about?" Kat asked.

"Getting us a ride." Carter said. He heard Emile chuckle behind him.

"Get your armor on and equip camo packs." Carter ordered his assembled team of five members. He called them in in the dead of night for his mission.

"Where are we sneaking to, sir?" Jun asked.

"We're getting that ride, remember?"

"Won't that be stealing?"

"Call it…reallocation of resources."

"As long as we get to kill stuff." Emile suggested.

Noble Team, excluding Carter, and John equipped their MK V Armor and their camouflage packs.

"Go to the hanger. I'll direct you from there." The team nodded and filed out. Carter started the computer in his room and put on his headset.

"Get me a readout of the _Pillar of Autumn_ and the location of Noble team."

"What are you doing up, Commander?" Auntie Dot asked.

"Dot, stay out of this."

"But you didn't answer my question. What are five camouflaged Spartans going to do in the hangar with a pilot waiting for them with two falcons ready to take off with rumors of a Spartan reconnaissance mission?"

Carter was still surprised at how Dot had found out his activity. _She's a damned AI, _,_ for god sakes._Carter reminded himself._ She's practically the ship._

"Dot, I order you not to leak this information to anyone."

"You have my word, Commander." Dot replied with a hint of mischeviousness.

Carter ignored Dot and concentrated on his team of Spartans. They were almost to the hangar by now.

"Approaching hangar. Single entity on motion detection." Noble Six reported, in the lead.

"That's our pilot, Six. I'll let her know." Carter opened a secure com line to the pilot's helmet.

"Pilot."

The readout of the pilot straightened. "Commander?" she asked.

"My team is coming, camouflaged. Prep the falcons."

"They've been prepped for fifteen minutes, sir."

"Good." Carter closed the line. "I need your help, Dot."

"How can I be of assistance, Noble One?"

"Give us sensor readouts of New Alexandria. And open the hangar doors as quietly as you can."

"The latter will be more difficult than the former, sir."

"Do it as best you can." Carter switched to his team's comm frequency. "Doors are opening. Saddle up."

"By the way, sir," Jun asked, taking one of the gunner positions. "What do we call this pilot?"

"Pilot. Do you have a call sign?" Carter asked.

"Call me Spook." She replied.

"Everyone, meet Spook. She will be attending our flight this evening." Carter announced. Spook gave a two-fingered salute to the other falcon as she climbed into the cockpit.

"Where's our heading, boss?" Spook asked.

"Head to New Alexandria."

"New Alexandria?" Spook asked. "There's nothing out there."

"You have your orders, lieutenant." Carter replied.

The falcons left the hangar, their rotors spinning furiously as their jet engines started and gave them additional forward thrust. After not long they were out of sight.

"Dot, keep those falcons on screen. Bring up the mission map as well."

Auntie Dot obliged by creating a top-down view of a map from the _Pillar of Autumn_ to New Alexandria, with the falcons highlighted. A timer showed the ETA, or Estimated Time Arrival, of the falcons, which was about two hours.

"Here comes the boring part, team." Carter said.

* * *

Spook tried her best not to tell someone that she was ferrying two Spartans on her falcon. The two Spartans that had taken the turrets, wearing light green and cyan armor, were unusually quiet._ They're probably chatting up a storm in their isolated comm channels._

She looked to her left to the other falcon, piloted by the Spartan in dark green armor. She knew that Spartan anywhere. Her CO is not going to believe any of this…Spook shook the thought. Colonel Hamilton was her Commanding Officer, and he had disapproved of this operation in the first place.

She accessed her ODST database for the rest of the Spartans' IDs. Kat was the cyan/light blue armor, Emile in the tan, Jun in green, and…there wasn't a name registered for Noble Six. At least, not for her command level. The ODST helmet automatically outlined her allies with green and displayed their callsigns on Spook's HUD.

Spook accessed her radar in the falcon as a routine check. The light green line swept across the circle as it always does, quietly emitting a beep once per revolution. Spook turned to visual scanning, which wasn't as helpful. It was dark out, and cloudy. The falcons were flying right through the thick of it, which increased stealth, but lowered visibility by just as much.

One of her consoles started to beep rapidly in a deep tone. In the clouds ahead a faint purple glow could be seen, rising in brightness.

"Bank hard left!" John called on the comm. Spook obeyed immediately as a plasma mortar flew into her previous position.

"Son of a bitch!" Spook cursed. "How did they know we were coming?"

"The Borg have remarkable radar, lieutenant. It's no surprise they saw us before we saw them." Carter said over the comm.

"Here comes another!" John yelled.

Spook angled the falcon's nose down to get them out of the clouds. Below, three Borg wraiths were stationary, their mortar guns pointed up and no one in the plasma gunner position.

"Open season, boys. Have fun." Spook announced. She flew her falcon in between two wraiths allowing Jun and Kat to inflict damage with their Gatling guns. After the first pass and swinging around again, the wraiths rose from the ground on their anti-grav engines, turning and opening fire from their gunner port.

"What the hell? There's no one in the gunner! How can it be shooting?" Spook asked to no one in particular.

"The Borg must have reprogrammed them to either be completely autonomous and register targets on its own or there's a drone in there controlling both." Kat offered.

"Either way team, take 'em down." Carter ordered.

John's falcon now joining them, the two falcons easily evaded the mortar shells and had difficulty dodging the plasma shots from the gunner. But two extra machine guns did help Noble Team's cause.

"Motion detection's picking something up." Carter said. "Looks like banshees coming in from the north."

"Spook, I'll handle the banshees. You finish up these wraiths." John said.

"You got it."

* * *

_Time frame 138248_

_Local Time 02:48_

_Two hostile entities registered entering friendly airspace_

_Initiate recording of Drone 4985318 for memory archive_

_Enemies registered as Human "Falcons"_

_Scramble "Banshees" 1-8 and initiate "Wraith"1-3 static defenses_

_Fire_

_Fire_

_Fire_

_Targets sighted_

"_Banshees" on approach_

"_Wraith" unit 2 disabled_

_Initiate air defenses_

"_Banshees" arrived_

_Intercepting Human communications_

"_Spook, I'll handle the banshees. You finish up these wraiths."_

_Human Male Voice identified. Coded J2174_

_Analyzing_

_Analyzing_

_Forming counterstrategy_

_Scramble "ghosts" and "seraphs"_

"_Wraith" unit 3 disabled_

"_Banshee" unit 7 disabled_

_Scrambling "banshees" 9-12_

"_ghosts" arriving_

"_Damnit! Ghosts! This is going to be tricky."_

_Human Female voice identified. Coded S957_

"_Nothing a little grenade launcher can't handle!"_

_Human Male voice identified. Coded E2793_

_Analyzing "Grenade launcher"_

_Analyzing_

_Tactics adjusted_

_Ghosts 1, 3, and 4 unresponsive_

"_Banshees" 1, 4, 5, 7, disabled_

"_Wraiths" 1 and 3 disabled_

"_Seraph" entrance imminent_

"_Ah shit… I'm picking up a few seraphs on an intercept course." S957_

"_We're going to need reinforcements for that."_

_Human Female Voice identified. Coded K486_

"_There's no time. We have to hold out and stick it to these bastards." J2174_

"_Hang on team, I'll get us some help."_

_Human male voice identified. Coded C582_

All "Ghosts" disabled

"_That's the last of those ghosts!" E2793_

"_Seraphs"1-3 opening fire_

"_Those things are fast!" S957_

_Picking up third enemy craft on approach_

_Scanning_

_Scanning_

_Identified as human "Longsword"_

_Altering Tactics_

_Enemy "falcon" damaged_

"_Damn! That's going to leave a mark!" S957_

"_Keep it up! Our help's almost here!" C582_

_End recording_

* * *

"This is Captain Max Haralson. ETA one minute."

Max adjusted the speed on his Longsword, synchronizing it with his prediction. The motion tracker/radar showed three seraphs, five banshees, and two falcons battling it out. Should provide a bit of a challenge.

Max had logged in over five hundred hours of active combat flight, and was a flying ace over one hundred times, an ace having five kills. In other words, Max had considerable skill kicking covenant ass.

"Noble Team, reinforcements have arrived."

"Much obliged, Longsword. Feel free to get to work."

"That's a 10-4."

Max switched off the combat safety on his longsword's weapons, switching to machine guns first. He fired on the nearest seraph, damaging its shields long enough to disable them, then fired his missiles to score the kill.

_That's another one to mark on the board._ Max thought, referring to the whiteboard keeping track of his kills. One more to add to the seraph counter.

"One seraph down, two to go." Max brought the Longsword around, trying to lose the banshee on his tail. Luckily, the Longsword is much faster than the non-space combat banshee, and with one tight turn to the left, the odds were turned. Seconds later the banshee was reduced to scrap, its doom contributed by bullets.

"Noble team, I'll handle the seraphs. Focus your fire on the rest of the hostiles and I'll join you when I'm done."

"What if we get done before you do?" One of the falcon pilots asked, a female voice.

Max snorted. "Fat chance."

Max went into a high rise, bringing the seraphs along with him above the cloud cover, with minimal light. He switched to infrared tracking, closing the viewports and activating the display.

One seraphs had overshot and was smack in Max's gun sights. Max pulled the trigger for his machine guns, some hit, but the seraph was hot on its feet and quickly veered off. Max swung around and pursued, peppering the Borg-ified Covenant fighter with more bullets.

The other seraph was hot on Max's tail, occasionally glancing a shot off him. Max was evading most of the seraph's shots well, but he couldn't dodge them all. By the time he had destroyed the other seraph, one of the starboard thrusters was out.

_You want some, you little bitch?_

Max applied the brakes hard, sending the Longsword into a steep climb, the seraph zooming under him. Max regained control of the Longsword and opened fire.

This seraph was the best out of the three, which was still not very good. The seraph was fast and jinked often. Max had to sacrifice accuracy just to keep up with the bastard.

The seraph made its first mistake when it mimicked Max's move before of braking, with the same result. In response, Max pulled hard on the joystick and angled the Longsword in a loop-de-loop, the seraph firing not far behind.

Max smiled as he his prey wandered unknowingly into his trap. Inverted, max again pulled on the brakes, finishing the loop much faster than the seraph. The seraph continued its speed, putting it in front of Max. The seraph later exploded with purple fire after being hit by two missiles.

"Noble Team, how are you doing?" Max asked, heading below the cloud cover.

"We could use a little help." The female pilot replied.

More wraiths had arrived, and dozens of banshees had joined the fight as well.

Max smiled. _Time to try._

* * *

_**End Ch. 12**_

Let me know what you think of the Borg drone POV, if you didn't figure out that's what it was. It's hard to write something where the character is part of a collective consciousness, and i want to know if I conveyed that well enough. Also, some of the dogfighting was inspired by Top Gun. And, yes. The chapter title was an epic reference to Blazing Saddles. Until Next time!~


	13. Methods of War

Summer's coming up! You know what that means? MOAR UPDATES! :D

_**CH. 13: Methods of War**_

"Commander Keyes!" Miranda turned to who had called her.

"This just in." The communications staff handed her a paper. Miranda took the paper. Its contents drew a smile. _Good 'ol Carter. _"Thank you, crewman. Dispatch more longswords and a pelican or two for support. Keep me appraised." The crewman saluted and relayed the orders.

Miranda activated the nearest communications unit. "Miranda Keyes to _Enterprise_."

"This is _Enterprise_. Data here."

"Can you scan the remains of New Alexandria and send what you get to me?"

"Of course, commander."

"Thanks, Data."

Miranda's padd ringed five seconds after the connection was cut. _You can always count on Data_. She went to her office to review the scans.

She opened the file and saw that the scan was a live feed of the skirmish involving Noble Team. Miranda's face fell as she saw two falcons and a Longsword fighter were trying to hold off three dozen banshees and a few seraphs. She let out a breath of relief when she heard the reinforcements that she ordered take off.

She closed the screen and left her office, heading for her father's office. The peace of the command floor was broken as the alarm klaxon went off. Miranda ran to the nearest command post, demanding an explanation.

"Borg drones incoming! The computer can't register how many there are exactly!" The crewman told her. The radar beside them showed an increasing sea of pings, with no end in sight. Miranda grabbed the nearest intercom.

"All hands, battle stations!" she yelled. Miranda turned to the officers waiting for orders. "Scramble everything and everyone we've got. What's the Elites' situation?"

"The Borg's attention is divided between us."

_So they know it's us. This is either for the Elites' strike or Noble Team._ "Get Noble Team back here on the double. Their evac is our second priority. Send marines out to the lines and keep those damned Borg off our land. Call in wraiths if we need them. Use everything we've got." The officers scurried to their posts.

Miranda got on her comm system again. "Prep the _Clad_ for takeoff."

The jog to her ship was filled with people bustling to their posts, a feat that took her ten minutes in a three minute norm. She caught her father's eye.

"Captain!"

"Miranda! Where are you going?"

"We've got to give support from the sky. I'm going in the _Clad_."

Jacob nodded. "Understood. I'll be with you."

Miranda smiled. Her father nodded and ran off to the _Pillar of Autumn_.

The _In Amber Clad_ took off as soon as Miranda was onboard, guns blazing as she reached the bridge. "Borg count?"

"Over three million and rising."

"I am sorry to interrupt," Data cut in on the intercom. "But I believe that there is four million, seven hundred sixty three thousand two hundred ninety one Borg drones."

"Did that all in your head, Data?"

"Yes, Commander. Do you require assistance?"

"Negative. Borg will adapt to your phasers in no time. Go and get Noble Team."

"Understood. I will inform Captain Picard."

Miranda assumed Picard agreed, as she saw the _Enterprise_ speed off to New Alexandria a minute later.

"Keep a counter on the main screen for Data's estimate of drones. Keep it updated." The ordered timer was decreasing rapidly, but not at a pleasing rate.

"Prepare to fire the MAC cannon." Miranda said. The crew around her turned and stared. "Do it. Fire our archer missiles as well. We need to push this back." The crew reluctantly agreed and carried out her orders. "Get me a line to the _Autumn_."

Captain Keyes appeared on the main screen. "What do you need, Miranda?"

"Captain, I think you're thinking the same thing I am."

Keyes's face fell. "Is that so?"

Miranda nodded. "We have to evacuate." The crew around her gasped under their breaths. "The Borg will keep coming, with greater numbers each time. We're lucky we've already killed almost one hundred thousand. We have to fall back."

Keyes nodded. "I understand and agree. We'll head to Earth when this is finished. Tell the elites." The line was disconnected.

* * *

Spook's impression on all the chaos around her could be described as purple and black blurs and lots of lights. Still her arm moved, piloting the falcon as Noble Team defended themselves from the onslaught of Borg, almost on its own.

"Team, I've got good news and bad news." Carter said.

"Give us the bad news." Spook said, convinced she was running on autopilot by now.

"HQ has come under heavy attack by several million Borg drones. We're to fall back to Earth when the battle is over."

"And the good news?" John asked skeptically.

"You're getting out of there. HQ has dispatched a dozen and a half longswords, two pelicans, and the _Enterprise_ to escort you back. We need you back here." Spook heard a tremor in the background of Carter's microphone.

"The _Enterprise_! They're really bringing out the big guns for us!" she said.

"Commander," Kat interrupted. "We still need to investigate what the Borg are doing in New Alexandria."

"We'll go." John said. "We'll head back and give support to HQ. You stay and complete the mission."

"The three of you can't fight your way through ten thousand drones."

"No, but some help wouldn't hurt."

The voice came with the arrival of the _Enterprise_, which dispatched shuttles to combat the banshees. "Commanders Riker and Data and Lt. Worf will beam down and assist you, Noble Team."

"Much obliged, _Enterprise_." Spook said. Spook set the falcon down while the Longsword reinforcements arrived. As Spook got out, the team from the _Enterprise_ beamed in.

"Commander Riker, Commander Data, and Lieutenant Worf reporting in." Riker said, introducing his team. "Let's get to work."

Spook grabbed her silenced submachine gun out of her cockpit as Kat and Noble Six hopped from their gunner positions. The _Enterprise_ team came equipped with MA5C's and pistols for each of them. Data consulted a padd.

"There are strong energy emanations coming from three kilometers away. I am also detecting increased detection on the motion sensor."

"Looks like we have a welcoming party." Noble Six observed.

Riker cocked his MA5. "Ready when you are."

Kat waved them forward. The first half kilometer showed no drones, but the motion detector activity increased.

The first drone appeared as they rounded a corner, which Spook was leading. The Drone was standing directly on the other side, drawing a jump and three bullets from Spook. The drones, now aware of both their fallen comrade and their guests, marched to the team.

Riker tapped his combadge. "Riker to _Enterprise._ How's it going up there, Captain?"

"Half of the banshees have been destroyed, but their bombs have given us significant damage to our shields. Shields are holding at sixty percent. We'll be done within five minutes."

"Understood. Riker out."

The team approached their destination, which was revealed to be the bottom half of Club Errera. They took up defensive positions behind conveniently placed rubble, opening fire on the approaching Borg drones, who were still slowly marching forward, glaring at their enemies. The tactical drones shimmered with plasma shields.

"Well, well!" Kat announced. "The Borg finally smartened up and assimilated Covenant technology!"

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Riker asked.

"It gets more fun from here." Noble Six answered.

Worf and Data exchanged looks. Six leaped over his cover and advanced on the Borg, dodging plasma fire by inches. Kat followed his lead, sharing the same feeling. "These things have hardly been a challenge! I've been getting rusty fighting these pushovers." Six told his Spartan comrade, who smiled in response under her helmet. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Lieutenant, but let's not get overexcited here."

With Spook downing the last drone, the team advanced into the Borg-ified club. Carter smiled on the other end, his theory true. _That'll show the top brass._

As the team entered, taking defensive cover, those with helmets activated their heat seeking recognition systems. Through the darkness and smoke, easily over two dozen Borg outlines could be seen. The team assumed they were not detected.

Noble Six stored his assault rifle on his back in exchange for his pistol. Silently, he rose and moved forward from cover to cover, the rest of the team following him from a distance. Noble Six raised his fist, and the team stopped and took cover. Six crept behind a drone as quietly as he could. In a lightning-fast motion, Noble Six reached around the drone, snapped its neck, and used its corpse as a meat shield while he emptied his pistol magazine. Six jumped behind the closest cover and brought his assault rifle back out.

* * *

"Carter, it's John."

"John, sit-rep."

"We're cleaning up the dregs of the Borg now sir. We took some casualties, but not very many. We're ready to touch down and support the ground team."

"Negative. They need their evac point clear of enemies. If you're going to land, hold that position."

"Acknowledged."

John cut the line back to base and opened a line to the _Enterprise_. "_Enterprise_, we're going to secure the evac zone for the ground team. Can you handle the skies?"

"You can count on it." replied the deep voice of Captain Picard.

"You can send those longswords home, by the way." Emile suggested. "We won't need their help."

"Understood."

"Well gents," Jun said. "Looks like we've got a few minutes to ourselves."

"We never get any time off." Emile stated.

"Looks like he's right." John said grimly. A spear of Borg tac drones was approaching the ground team's falcon. John pushed the stick forward, leaning the falcon toward its prey.

* * *

"We've got ten minutes till we have to fall back!" Riker yelled over the gunfire.

Spook crouched again and reloaded her SMG. They had gained little ground since Six's fancy show, and they were far from completing their objective. "We need to try something new!" she yelled

"Everyone prime a grenade!" Data shouted. Spook heeded his call, as did the rest of the team. She was surprised Data could take command over Riker. Situation warrants, she guessed.

"Lob on my mark! Mark!" Data yelled. Spook threw her fragmentation grenade as hard as she could. Her ears rang from the explosions, her ODST not as hearing protected as the Spartans'. She faintly heard Data's voice: "Charge!"

Spook stumbled up, obeying Data. The grenades had torn through the Borg front soldiers, and disoriented the rest in the lobby. The team cut down the rest of the Borg in the room and continued the tactic twice more.

The highest concentration of Borg technology was on the third floor, which the team quickly advanced to. The room was filled with what looked like Borg servers, but not very many Borg guards. Data scanned the room with his tricorder.

"This appears to be the Borg control hub for the drones in New Alexandria."

"So we blow this up, they all power down?" Kat asked.

"I do not think so. Each individual Borg will continue to function, and carry out its last instructions to the best of its ability. But if we destroy this, the Borg will receive no more updated orders."

"So we'll disrupt their communications." Riker summarized.

"Until they establish a new communications array. But I do not think they will; this appears to be an extremely advanced construct that requires a long period of time to activate."

"That is acceptable." Worf agreed. "We destroy this, and then defeat the remaining Borg in the city."

"I don't think we'll get to that second part, Lieutenant. We're running the clock down, and we've got to get out of here." Riker replied.

"Let's set the charges and get to the _Enterprise_."

Spook slid her backpack down her arm and handed explosives to the team, who set them and activated them.

"We're ready?" Spook asked.

"Then let us leave." Data suggested, taking point on the way out. They encountered a few Borg drones the way down, only to realize the bulk of the drones were attacking the other team's landed falcon. The team ran towards the drones, emptying their clips. Emil noticed them and waved his arm. "Get to da choppa!" he yelled.

They didn't have to, however. They neared the falcon, and both teams were beamed onto the _Enterprise_. Captain Picard oversaw the beaming of the teams next to Chief O'Brien and welcomed them. When the last combatant stepped off the receiver, Picard tapped his combadge. "Mr. Crusher, warp one back to the command post!"

* * *

The number of the Borg drones attacking had dropped by ten times its original factor. Still they were still coming with a sea of black. The _Pillar of Autumn_ had exhausted its Archer missile array and was running low in MAC rounds. The forty millimeter guns on the sides were still firing furiously, not in worry of depleting their ammunition.

Captain Keyes pondered the thought of forsaking Reach. The Borg were close to overwhelming them, but they could hold out. If they were to pull out and meet the additional reinforcements from Earth, the Borg would grow uncontrollably and Reach would be lost. The coalition was running low on supplies and manpower. Shipments were bound in three days. There was no choice.

"Captain, getting a reading. The _Enterprise_ is heading back. Looks like they have Noble Team in possession."

"Patch me through. "There was a pause as the connection was set up. "Captain Picard, this is Captain Keyes. Can you put one of my soldiers on the line?"

"Kat speaking, Captain."

"Your findings?"

"Borg were, emphasis on _were_, hunkered down pretty heavily. They had set up a communications hub. Based on Data's scans, the drones in the New Alexandria area should receive no new orders. The only downside is that they will still attempt to accomplish their current."

Better some than none. "Thank you, commander."

"Captain."

"Put Captain Picard back on the line."

"What do you need, Captain?" Picard asked

"Have you had time to test your new installments?"

There was a pause as Picard checked. "We've run some simulations, but we can't say for sure."

"No time like the present."

"We'll see what we can do, Captain."

"One more thing; prepare your people on groundside for evacuation. We're falling back to Earth."

"You're certain? If we dig in our heels, they can be pushed back."

"No. You're the expert. The Drones will keep coming, and we can't hold out with what supplies left. Two-thirds of our personnel are prepared to leave. We'll evacuate the main line next, and we three ships will cover their escape and try and make it out as best we can."

"You don't sound too convinced we can get out of this place."

"They'll adapt. They always do. They keep coming, and we're running out of ammo. There's a good chance we'll be overwhelmed after the front line is gone."

"Give me a second to think."

The audio link was severed as Picard pondered the decision. The link was back up after a minute.

"We can beam out the front line." Picard offered. "Saves you the trouble of sending ships down from orbit to fetch them."

"Agreed. Start those transportations. You can continuously create ammunition, yes?"

"We can use our replicators. Would you like some?" Picard said with a hint of a smile.

"It would be helpful, Captain. I'm sure the _Clad_ would appreciate the help as well."

"Very well. We'll begin transportations and open fire. Mr. Worf?"

Worf was half audible from the microphone. "Aye sir. Firing."

The _Enterprise_ flew across the front line and circled the Borg onslaught, its new 50 mm guns blazing nonstop. The entire saucer section of the _Enterprise_ was outfitted with the new guns, with two guns for every phaser. The entire lower array was shooting, with sides of the upper firing when the _Enterprise_ was leaning. The counter of Borg dropped rapidly.

"Captain, we've received additional ammunition from the _Enterprise_." An officer reported.

Keyes nodded. "Get them loaded and open fire as long as we can."

"Captain, Commander Keyes on the line for you."

Keyes ordered the line open.

"You still want to retreat Captain?" his daughter asked. "We've got more ammo, reinforcements, and the Borg count is dropping considerably."

"We can't hold out forever. We'll do our best and make the Borg know it'll take a lot to throw us off our planet."

A console started beeping rapidly. "Captain, incoming banshees and seraphs! They're on an intercept course with the battle." The sensor officer said with a remarkably calm voice.

"Get the Recon team back here and get them in Sabers. We don't have the right firepower to take out fighters. Tell the _Enterprise_ to divide the team between us and the _Clad_."

"Message sent."

* * *

Three minutes later the team was in their planes and out the hangar door. Captain Harrelson was in command of what was unofficially dubbed "Blue Squadron".

"Attention all wings. This is Blue one." Max said over the comms. "We're to defend the _Amber Clad_, _Pillar of Autumn_ and _Enterprise_. They can't repel fighters as we can, so we're giving them cover to stomp on that ground force. Clear?" There was a series of double clicks of acknowledgements from all six other pilots. "Break formation and carry out your orders." Max saw the sabers veer to a side and pick off the oncoming bogeys.

_Well, it's been a good run._ Max thought as he approached a nearby seraph. He sprayed the ship with gunfire and sent his missiles on it, staying on to confirm the hit before picking a new target. A few bursts of the gun and a banshee was gone.

Max's eyes widened. "All wings heads up, we've got phantoms incoming. Stay clear of their fire. We'll let the big ones take care of them." Max opened a message to the _Autumn_. "_Pillar of Autumn_, this is Blue one. We've picked up some phantoms on an intercept course to the three of you. High chance their boarding parties."

"Acknowledged blue one. Avoid their fire, and continue your concentration on the fighters. We'll handle them."

"Splendid, _Autumn_. Blue one out." Max activated his afterburners and chased a fighter that was trying to take a potshot at the _Clad_. A few shots and the banshee combusted.

Max turned the saber around and pointed the nose to a phantom far away. _Time to try out this theory_. Max slowed his speed and switched to missiles. Max locked onto the far phantom, and emptied his near full missile depository. The missiles flew and flew and flew, in a near endless stream. The phantom was riddled with explosions. Only after the final set missiles was released did the phantom lose power and fall from the sky, plowing a line through hundreds of Borg drones before exploding.

_Not my best idea, but we eliminated a phantom. Will be good to know in the future_. Max turned his attention to banshees now, now his only choice after emptying his missiles.

* * *

_**End Ch. 13**_

More games distracting me. Almost done with them, even though I've had them for three weeks. :D Will try to update more often. Until next time!


	14. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

_**A/N:**_ _Well. Long time no see. First up I want to apologize for not updating. First it was school, then StarCraft, then Skyrim, then Old Republic, then StarCraft again. But here I am again, back from silence. So to make up for your waiting, here's a double length feature._

* * *

_**Ch. 14: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire**_

Miles O'Brien was in one of the busiest shifts in his career. There were over three thousand people to beam up to UNSC ships in orbit, and since his transporter pad could only take six at a time, with nineteen other transporter rooms, each room had to go through at least seven beaming processes.

The ship rocked yet again as the battle outside raged on, the _Enterprise_'s new machine guns could still be heard blazing away at the multitude of Borg drones. Miles was careful not to screw up the transporter beam while ship rocked.

_ Apparently the inertial dampeners have failed_, he thought, picking himself off the floor. He oversaw the last of the current beam-up and started the next. Just before he hit the "initiate" panel, the floor part of the transporter pad sparked and its lights dimmed. Miles hit his combadge and began running diagnostics.

"O'Brien to engineering, transporter four just short circuited….or something. Still trying to ascertain the malady. Send a repair team up here on the double."

The officer on the other side acknowledged. Miles ran three diagnostics on the site-to-site transporters. The energy beam converting the target's mass to energy checked out, the transportation stream checked out, and- _Aha!_ _The post conversion transportation beam had failed!_ The engineering team he requested entered the transporter room, and he instructed where to begin their work while he began rewriting the code for the latter mass transportation beam.

Another rock of the ship, and the panel in front of O'Brien erupted in sparks. O'Brien was thrown to the wall. He heard an engineer rush to his side and call for medical aide in a haze of half-consciousness. He blacked out three seconds later.

* * *

"Report." Picard ordered.

"Our new installments are performing above simulation standards." Worf replied. "It seems we have underestimated their prowess for destruction."

Riker smiled at Picard. "Yet this is a ship of exploration and peace."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Number one." Picard replied. "You can't expect everyone to extend a hand in peace."

"Borg number counter reads just less than three million." Data reported.

"What is the status of the transportations?"

"We have already beamed up seven hundred ninety one of the ground personnel." Data reported again. "Our rate will be slightly dampened due to one of the transporter rooms' post matter conversion transporter malfunctioned and severely injured the technician. Estimated five to six more total transportations. However, the simultaneous transportations have put a serious drain on our power systems. At best, we will be able to perform one ship-wide beam-up once every half to one hour."

"See if you can channel non-critical power and reroute it to supply additional power." Picard ordered. "Continue fire with photon torpedoes until the ground team is beamed up or our complement is depleted."

"Firing." Worf said. The console beeped as the torpedoes were fired. The torpedoes left deep craters, flinging Borg body parts across the battle field.

"Beaming process is resuming, Captain. We've been able to lower the rate to every fifteen minutes to half hour." Riker reported from his side console.

The torpedoes and machine guns filled a silence on the bridge for several minutes. The Borg counter was dwindling so quickly the one, ten, and hundred values were a blur. Worf's console beeped again, this time rapidly.

The computer chimed: "Warning: Intruder Alert. Deck seven, section fifteen." In its monotone voice.

Picard glanced at his first officer, who nodded. "Mr. Worf!" Riker yelled as they left their posts to combat the intruders. Data rose from his seat and took Commander Riker's chair, officers taking both Data's and Worf's positions.

"Commander Riker!" Picard called. Riker turned just in front of the turbolift. "Be careful, Number One." Riker gave a smile and entered the turbolift with Worf.

* * *

O'Brien came to in medbay, with Doctor Crusher leaning over him.

"Chief? Are you awake?" She asked and followed with a brisk wake-up slap.

Miles shook his head to drive off the remaining dizziness.

"Come on Miles, get up. We've got to get out of here!" Crusher helped him sit up and guided him out of Medical.

"What's going on?" Miles asked groggily.

"We've got Borg boarders from the battle below. They beamed in awfully close to sickbay, and we've been given orders to relocate to Ten-Forward."

Miles felt some strength gain from an earlier hypospray, and was able to walk on is own, albeit a bit wobbly.

"What's the status on the evacuation beam-ups, ma'am?"

"As far as I know they've got about five rounds left to do. The next round is going to happen shortly."

They turned a corner, apparently the wrong one, as a security officer armed with an assault rifle was shouting orders to his men. They were trying to security lock the door as the set of doors exploded, followed by Borg plasma fire. Crusher threw herself to the ground behind a crate, Miles a split second later. The officer in command was gunned down, and his men were quickly overrun without their leader.

As an infantrymen died, his pistol slid no the carpet and stopped just in front of Crusher. Not hesitating a bit, she grabbed the pistol and switched the safety off. She got to her feet into a low crouch, and put her back to the crate. She took a peek around the crate. The Borg were checking their enemies, confirming their deaths. Crusher threw herself out of the cover, firing four times at the Borg. Three went down, one doubled over.

Crusher, having obtained new cover, slid the pistol back to Miles who had regained his full senses.

"Miles, here! Use this!" she said in a loud whisper as she readied a nearby assault rifle. Miles reloaded with a conveniently located magazine. "On my mark." Miles readied the pistol, as Crusher counted down from 3 on her fingers. At the count of one, Crusher pulled her fingers into a fist and stood up, acquiring a target. Miles stood at the same time mirroring her.

The Borg, previously aware of their new enemy, returned fire almost instantly. Their fire rattled the crates Crusher & Miles were using as cover, and they both squatted back down until there was a break in firing.

Miles checked his rounds, and found seven left in the twelve-round magazine. He heard the drones stop firing, and rose again. He saw a Borg no less than two feet from the pistol's barrel. Miles's eyes widened at the proximity of the enemy, but still he shot his foe all the same. He reached and grabbed some of the wires hanging off the dead Borg and pulled it to him. Although the smell was a bit repulsive, Miles needed it for his plan. He kept the Borg corpse in directly in front of him, using the drone as a meat shield, absorbing shots as Crusher and he killed the remaining Borg. They stopped to pick up extra ammunition.

The lights slightly dimmed. "Looks like there's a round of transportations happening." Miles observed.

"Yeah. Maybe about three left total. Let's get out of here before more drones show up." Crusher jogged down the hall.

* * *

Hours passed. The ground team was nearly completely beamed up, and the process was speeding up. The _Enterprise_'s shields were down to 40%, and the hull strength of the _Pillar of Autumn _and _In Amber Clad_ were weakening as well.

"The last of the ground team has been beamed out, Commander." An officer told Miranda Keyes.

She let out a breath of relief. "Patch me through to the other two captains." The officer opened a three-way communiqué.

"Well, the last men have beamed out and are in orbit. We are in your debt, Picard." Miranda said, smiling.

"It was my pleasure, Commander. Are we ready to depart?"

Miranda's father's face fell at the thought of leaving Reach. He knew it must be done, but there was some morale drained at humanity's last stronghold crumbling to an overwhelming enemy.

"Yes. Let's leave this planet before they overrun us in the skies." The Captain said finally.

"Helmsman, Take us back to Earth. Cole Protocol." Miranda said.

Picard looked confused. "Do explain this 'Cole Protocol', Commander."

"It's been our protocol not to slipspace directly to Earth so our enemy does not ascertain Earth's location from our trajectory. It's worked out well, so far."

"That will not succeed." Data interrupted. "The Borg already have knowledge of the location of Earth, or, at the very least, they can make an educated guess. This will not keep Earth safe forever."

"We'll take what we can, Mister Data." Miranda said. "Plot the course and engage slipspace drive." She said to her crewman.

The stars elongated as the ships traveled beyond the speed of light.

Miranda rose from her chair. "Let me know when we arrive at Earth."

"Commander?" a sensor operator asked. "I've picked up readings of a fourth mass behind us in slipspace. It's Borg."

Miranda turned and looked at the display, leaning over the operator's shoulder.

"They are charging weapons." The operator said. Miranda called to a communications officer: "Get the _Enterprise _back!" The officer nodded and Captain Picard was onscreen a minute later.

"We've detected a Borg ship in pursuit of us. Our weapons cannot fire faster than the speed of light. Can we trust you to defeat them?"

Picard nodded. "You can. We'll meet you at Earth."

Miranda nodded her thanks as the line went dead. "Increase speed and inform the _Pillar of Autumn_!"

* * *

Crusher ran to the door ahead of her, quickly turning to squeeze off a couple shots on her assault rifle. O'Brien had found a DMR from a dead security officer and was becoming skilled at it, Crusher remarked. She stopped at the door and pounded in her security code.

"Get that door open!" Miles yelled. "They're gaining on us!"

"Give me a second!" Crusher yelled back as she finished the last of the code and submitted it to the computer. The door opened after a second of impatience. Crusher turned and emptied her magazine in staggered bursts as O'Brien turned and sprinted for the door.

Crusher was almost knocked over by the rush of _Enterprise_ security contingent. The security officers filled the hall as they assumed firing positions and mowed down the Borg in the hallway. The security reformed and continued down the hall, trotting in unison as their commanding officer followed them in the same pace.

Crusher and O'Brien weaved their way through the groups of security men. They were directed to the engineering deck, where Riker and Worf had set a mini-command center for repelling the Borg in the small enclave before the warp core.

Riker looked up as they walked in. "Doctor. I'm glad to see you are all right. And you as well, Chief."

"Thank you sir." Miles said.

"What's the status on the Borg?" Crusher asked, walking next to Riker and looking at the display.

"So far, the Borg have beamed in on every deck from deck twelve down to forty-two."

Crusher's eyebrow's raised. "That's a lot of ground to cover, Commander."

Riker nodded. "We're well aware of that, but luckily the Borg have beamed in with small groups. We only need about three kill teams per deck. We're still working on the mid decks." He went to another display, this one wall-mounted. "So far we've secured decks seventeen, twenty-two, twenty-seven, thirty-two, and thirty-seven."

"That's still a lot of decks left out." Miles said.

"The Borg have only just beamed in, and we're marshalling our forces on those decks until we have sufficient manpower. Then we'll push out and go down a deck until the Borg are history."

Riker's combadge beeped. "Riker here."

"Commander, we're exiting warp." Captain Picard said. "The _Pillar _and _Amber_ will be sending us additional troops."

"Aye, sir. Extend my thanks. I don't have very many men down here in the first place."

"I'll be sure to, Number One. Picard out."

"What's our status on the trip back to Earth?" Crusher asked.

"Well you were just apprised of our ETA, but we have a Borg ship in pursuit. It's not very big, but big enough to pose us a theat."

"What are Earth's defenses like?" Miles asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm told it's almost impenetrable. I think we'll be safe for a while."

Worf appeared from around a corner. "We have reached sufficient numbers Commander. The UNSC troops bolstered our ranks well." He finished with a small smile.

Riker nodded. "Good. Let's begin the operation."

Worf tapped his combadge and began typing on a console. "Lieutenant Worf to squad leaders. Begin your assault." Affirmatives came through all at once, and the sound of gunfire was constant.

"What would you have us do, Commander?" Miles asked after a silence.

"Doctor, I can have you tending to wounded. Chief, you can man one of the emergency beam-out stations for our men. If their life signs get unstable, beam them out to Doctor Crusher's department."

They nodded and went their separate ways.

* * *

Kat jumped out of her seat at the call to arms from the Lieutenant.

"Finally." She said under her breath.

"All right team, we're pushing exactly five decks down." Carter began, back into his armor. "We're going down, making a circle, clearing every room, and circling back to go down again and repeat the process. This is a big damn ship people; I don't expect us to be done in two to three hours, and that's hoping for the best."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Emile said as he inserted more shotgun shells.

Noble Six stood over the access hatch in the hallway. He put his hand on the lever and counted down from five on his fingers. On zero, he fisted his fingers and ripped the hatch open (without tearing it off). Emile primed a grenade and sent it down. It detonated, sending a plume of smoke through the hatch. He jumped down the hatch to Deck 17 and scanned for enemies.

Kat heard shotgun shots going off as soon as Emile left her sight. Jun jumped next, then Carter, then her as Six shut the hatch behind him.

It had been about four hours since they had been beamed up from New Alexandria in the middle of Borg territory. Spook had been assigned to a different unit once the UNSC reinforcements had arrived. They had enough time to sit down and catch some sleep before they were called to duty again.

In the deck were drones everywhere, with the occasional tac-drone directing his subordinates. Noble Six deployed his drop shield as cover, and the SPARTANS held their ground from there until the drones were dead.

Kat had only used two magazines of her pistol so far, and had racked about fourteen kills. _If only we had Jorge. He specializes in this sort of thing_. The Master Chief was assigned to a different level. He must be something special to be assigned to clear a whole five decks by his lonesome.

Six's drop shield failed as it ran out of energy. Carter pointed down a hall. "Here's where we start, Noble. Let's go." Carter took off at a jog, DMR leading the way.

Kat was right behind him, and opened a door to a crew quarters. There were three Borg drones and a Starfleet officer with ashen skin and bulging eyes. He was a goner.

She ran in and pistol whipped two of the drones, followed by a shot to each of them in the head. The last drone was overseeing the conversion of the poor sap as he stood up to deal with his new foe. Kat kicked her foot into the drone's neck and into the wall. With a brisk flick of her heel she snapped its neck. She delivered a quick shot to the head to put the human out of his misery.

She re-entered the hallway and found similar encounters with her teammates. They all left unscathed, Emile's shields flaring.

They continued this way until they reached a sort of plaza in the ship, where scans had detected an impromptu command center for the Borg. Carter tossed Kat a grenade launcher. "We've orders to hit them hard. We'll give 'em just that." On the count of three, Carter opened the doors.

Kat ran in and sent a grenade into the air, exploding after. She sent another that set off an EMP, disrupting the consoles in a blaze of static-filled consoles. She swapped for her assault rifle and spent two shots on each drone she saw. She counted fifteen kills by the time the dust settled.

"How much more do we have to do, Carter?" Emile asked, kicking over the body of a drone.

"The saucer section's circumference is just over thirteen hundred meters, and we have five decks to do it on." He said checking a display on his wrist. "We just cleared about three hundred. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Kat put a counter on her HUD to show how long a distance until they were done on that deck. Carter gave the order to move out, and they followed.

They ran through the _Enterprise_, popping Borg drones and the occasional shielded tac-drone as they went. They went through every room that had heat signatures inside, thanks to their newly-upgraded helmets. Noble cleared them without coincidence.

On her sixth pistol and fourth assault rifle magazine, they came across a large cargo bay on the deck. The room had been completely scan-shielded, which led to the belief that it was another checkpoint.

"Captain Picard to Noble Team."

"Noble Team, Carter here."

"Be advised, the next room is scan shielded in every way possible. No thermal, life, or emissions, nothing."

The Spartans slowed their pace. How could a room be _that_ protected? It has to be a high value target.

"Acknowledged, Captain Picard. We will handle the situation with additional caution." Carter shut the comm. "Noble, suggestions?"

"Come in loud and hard," Emile was the first to suggest. "Blitz tactics are always effective."

"We don't know if there are heavy turrets or a hundred drones in there." Jun said. "We need more information."

"Does anyone have a cloaking system?" Carter asked.

Jun stepped forward. "Who else would?"

"Jun I need you to get in there and get us that intel." Carter said. He turned to the rest of the team. "There are additional hallways for us to check. That'll give Jun the time he needs."

"Yes sir!" All four SPARTANS said simultaneously. Jun folded his sniper rifle onto his back and pulled up _Enterprise_ schematics. He was looking for the thief's best friend: ventilation ducts. Unfortunately, there were no ducts, but there was a Jeffries tube that ran adjacent to the next room. He removed the plating and climbed in, his SPARTAN armor making the tube a tight fit.

He advanced at a slow rate, any faster would alert the Borg of his presence. It took him ten minutes to move ten meters in his armor and the tight space. He reached a vent seeable through and peered through into his objective.

The entire room had been assimilated, bathing it in a low green light. Assimilators and Borg charge units were set up all along the walls. There were close to a dozen Borg tactical drones directing everything. In the center on a raised pedestal with its own console, was an intimidating Borg drone with a three-barreled weapon on its arm. The barrels were arranged in a triangle; Jun assumed it was a chain gun of sorts. He activated his helmet's camera and snapped shots of everything he could. In total, FOF tags registered fifty drones, the dozen tactical drones, and the single, now tagged, Commando drone.

"Commander, I'm sending you images and video of the plaza room. I think it'll be a bit of a challenge to knock this down."

Carter was silent as the pictures and video went through. "I agree Jun; it'll take a matter of premeditation. Noble team, any suggestions?"

"We could all get into the Jeffries tubes and set up crossfire. It'll give us a few seconds to take out the commando drone and maybe the tac-drones. Then the drones will be easy pickings."  
"How strong are the Jeffries tubes in durability?" Noble Six asked.

"This is a starship. One would think they would be as durable as physically possible." Kat said.

"Want me to test it out?" Jun asked, flexing his fingers.

"Get to a different position, Jun. One that won't give away our plan."

Jun acknowledged and began crawling backwards. It took him twice as long to get back to an area early in the tube that had some room to move. He flexed his fingers again, and punched at the wall. A recent counter showed that Jun punched at 50%, and the tube showed a small depression. Jun tested out another spot at 70%, this time his knuckles visible in the mold. Satisfied, he crawled back out and found the rest of Noble Team waiting.

Jun threw a thumb back to the tube. "It'll hold."

Carter nodded. "Six and Jun, head up this one and establish your positions. Kat, you're with me on the opposite one. Emile, place a charge on the door and detonate it when we open fire." Carter handed him the grenade launcher. "Get into position, Noble!"

All four again acknowledged as three crawled into the tubes. Jun went in first, crawling for the far corner. Six handed Jun a DMR, and decided he would use it after he went through his first sniper mag.

"Door charge ready, Commander." Emile said.

"Noble Three in position."

"Noble Six in position."

"Noble Four in position."

"Noble Two in position."

"Roger that Noble. Begin firing on my mark."

Jun's finger tightened around the trigger of his sniper rifle. His alternate model of the sniper rifle had a much shorter barrel, still long enough to just poke out of the vent with Jun's back to the end of the tube. His crosshair was centered on the head of the commando drone. Carter began counting down from five.

The commando drone's head looked up from his console. The drone stared into nothing for a few seconds. His head turned, and looked at Jun straight through his scope. The drone typed a few commands into his console.

Carter's countdown still in progress, Jun took his shot. The bullet took the drone right in the head and toppled him over, his shields flaring.

"Open fire!" Carter said on time.

The air was filled with nothing but gunfire for some seconds. The Borg drones were quick to reply with plasma fire, the SPARTAN's cover holding but quickly growing weaker.

Jun's position was taking the most fire from the Borg since they responded to his shot. Emile, his position under a small amount of stress, stopped firing.

"Cover me!" he barked.

Emile took out his survival knife and began carving a hole in the Jeffries tube. After seconds of sawing, Emile punched the tube out and sprang out, shotgun in hand. Jun smirked in his helmet at Emile's ever-present ferocity as he brought his shotgun muzzle to a drone's head and obliterated it.

"Take out that commando drone!" Kat's voice came over the comm.

Jun instantly began scanning for the drone he had shot before. He found it soon, in the back coordinating his drones' assault against a fightable target: Emile. Jun pumped in a fresh magazine of sniper rounds and lined up his sights.

One shot.

The commando drone was again knocked off his feet, shields flaring. He got up after a second.

Another shot.

The shields finally broke, flattening the commando again.

Third shot.

A spurt of blood and a hiss of air came from the drone's head. Jun frowned at his former foe's resistance.

"Commando drone had to take three sniper rounds to the head before finally giving up." He reported.

"Might be two if you were on a standard issue." Noble Six said.

"Let's hope there aren't that many of those." Carter said.

With their commander dead, the remaining drones broke into disarray and shot at all five of the SPARTANS, their weakened combined strength making them easy targets. They were cleaned up soon.

Simultaneous to the last drone dying, the comm picked up. Commander Riker's voice came hazy over.

"…ble Team, do you copy? This is Commander Riker in the forward command center on the engineering deck."

"This is Noble One, Commander."

"We've been trying to raise your for the past fifteen minutes, Commander. What's been going on?"

"We were engaged in clearing out a command position that was heavily scan shielded."

"How many drones were there?"

Carter paused to recap. "At least fifty drones, sir. At most seventy."

"Good. We were trying to raise you to give you new orders."

"Go."

"We're assigning you to a new sector. We're going to site-to-site transport you to the engineering deck. Your remaining ground to cover will be handled by a new team."

Carter looked around; his face behind his helmet surely has a look of confusion.

"Acknowledged, sir. We're ready whenever."

Riker called for the transport. Soon Jun's suit scanners picked up an energy build-up that happened whenever he was transported.

They came out in the engineering deck. The warp core was behind them, in front of them Riker was hunched over a display-table.

He looked up and saw Noble Team and straightened, tugging at the hem of his uniform.

"Noble." Riker said with a nod.

"Commander." Carter returned a nod. He strode to the display table alongside Riker. "What have you got for us?" he said, glancing at the table.

Riker resumed his attention back to the display. "Well, cleanup's looking good so far. No casualties, almost lost a couple, but they've all been beamed out and gotten to our temporary sickbay. Master Chief is in the lead for his section of the_ Enterprise_, he's just started his second deck."

"Whatever you needed us for, what could it be so important that we're pulled from our previous assignment, sir? With all due respect, we could have been finished halfway or even three-quarters finished with that deck."

"I pulled you out because the Borg have proximity beamed in on the Deck Three and are attacking Deck Two. There's only one thing of worth all the way up there."

Carter took off his helmet and placed it on the display and leaned over it. "The bridge."

* * *

"Captain Picard, I'm reading an energy build-up on Deck Three." The lieutenant commander temping for the science station said. He turned to Picard with a nervous/horrified look. "They're Borg beam-in signals."

Picard frowned. "Red Alert!" The alarm klaxon rang instantaneously. "Security to the bridge!"

"Captain," Data said evenly after checking a display on his first officer's chair. "Commander Riker reports that all able security crewmen are engaged with the Borg on lower decks."

Picard turned to his second officer. "Are you saying we are defenseless?"

"Not quite, sir. We can erect force fields around all entrance points around the bridge, place firewalls for our core systems, and lock the turbolift doors."

"How long will that give us?"

"Twelve minutes for the Borg to breach the bridge defenses, five to capture Decks Two and Three, sir."

"Bridge to Commander Riker." Picard said.

"Riker here."

"Can you pull of a contingent of your men to aid the bridge?"

"Did something happen up there?"

"A squad of Borg just beamed in on Deck Three."

Riker paused. "I'm sending you Noble Team."

"The Borg will be upon the bridge in seventeen minutes, Commander."

"Yes, sir. I'll begin hailing them."

* * *

"Captain Picard reported the Borg beam in when you began your assault on the Borg command center." Riker said.

"How much time left do they have?" Carter asked, just apprised of the bridge's current defenses.

Riker checked a clock. "Just over two minutes."

Carter grabbed his helmet and waved Noble Team forward. "Noble, let's go." Noble followed Carter without a word onto the turbolift.

"Wait!" Riker called. "Turbolifts have been taken offline. We'll have to beam you in as close as we can on Deck Three."

"Do it." Carter said.

Riker looked to O'Brien, who nodded. He punched in the coordinates, and ran the slide up to initiate the beaming.

Noble Team beamed in ten feet from a pack of drones. There was no time to bring weapons to bear, only enough to leap across the hallway and fly fists. It took the five SPARTANS four seconds to kill thirteen drones with their bare hands. Emile cracked his knuckles.

"Been a while since a good, old-fashioned brawl."

"Double-time it, Noble!" Carter said, taking off at a sprint.

The rest of Noble followed suit immediately, a step or two behind their leader. It took them thirty seconds to reach the hatch from Deck Three to Two. Emile stepped forward and primed a plasma grenade and casually tossed it to the hatch. Six deployed his drop shield as everyone else armor locked.

The hatch was completely blown off. Carter leaped up and landed on two feet, DMR flashing as soon as it was past the ceiling of Deck three/floor of Deck two. The rest of Noble was on the floor in a matter of seconds. Now they took their weapons from their holsters.

Carter cocked his DMR. "Loud and heavy, Noble."

Nods from the team.

"Let's move!" Carter shouted, and the whole team sprinted forward, not wasting a step. The timer until the Borg broke in showed less than a minute left. The force fields had been broken, but the firewalls and turbolifts were still defended and on lockdown respectively.

There was a mass of drones at the access point between Deck Two and Deck One. They all appeared to be filtering in. Kat primed a frag grenade and chucked it at the group of drones. The drones were apparently all too focused on something; they didn't notice it until they were in pieces.

Noble Team burst through the _open_ turbolifts of the Bridge. Data was grappling with a tac-drone, two drones were attacking a pair of officers taking cover behind the two front stations, and a commando drone was standing over the Captain's Chair.

Emile flew forward, digging the muzzle of his shotgun into the drone's back and firing. Fluids sprayed all over Data's uniform. Kat and Six quickly dispatched the two other drones. Jun immediately set his standard issue sniper rifle and shot the commando drone after a quick look through the scope. The drone's shields broke. Carter raised his DMR to fire and fired he did, but not before the commando drone grabbed Captain Picard's arm and activated a beam-out signal. The bullet pinged harmlessly against the bulkhead.

The Borg had captured Captain Picard.

* * *

Silence filled the bridge.

"Alert: All Borg threats to the bridge have been neutralized." The computer reported again. Carter heard Emile scoff again and something being smashed.

Carter opened a comm channel to Riker.

"Riker here."

"Commander Riker."

"What happened on the bridge, Carter? Is the captain safe?"

"No, sir."

Riker paused. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"The Borg kidnapped the captain."

Riker paused. And paused. And paused. "I'm on my way up. Stanley, you're in command here."

* * *

Silence hung heavily in the bridge again while Noble Team awaited Commander Riker. He joined the bridge after ten minutes since the comm call.

He surveyed the bridge. "So what happened?"

"We were taking control of the bridge, about to kill the last drone, when it activated an emergency beam out and took Captain Picard with it."

Riker stood there, speechless. "What's the status on the Borg ship?"

Worf reported from his tactical console. "Damaged, but moving. At a speed of warp 9.1."

"Out of ten?" Carter asked. "_That's_ damaged speed?"

"Plot a course to intercept. Call Commander Shelby to the bridge. Have all the UNSC troops, including the six SPARTANS, to await further orders in hangar bay two once their current assignments have been completed." Riker looked around the room. "As first officer and Captain Picard incapacitated, or unable to fulfill his duty as captain of this starship, or whatever you want to call it, I am taking command of the _Enterprise_. Computer, acknowledge."

"Transfer of rank and command acknowledged. Captain Riker is now the commanding officer of the _Enterprise_."

Riker strode over to and took a seat in the captain's chair.

"Hail the _Autumn _and the _Clad_." Riker said.

"Hailing. Onscreen, Captain." Worf said.

"Commander." Captain Keyes said. "Where is Captain Picard?"

"Captain Picard has been taken hostage by the Borg. I am filling his position for the time being."

Captain Keyes's eyes widened and Commander Keyes brought her hand to her mouth.

"Do we know if he's alive?" Commander Keyes asked.

"He was last seen as alive, yes." Riker said. "We are plotting an intercept course to the Borg ship that attacked us as we speak. Would you like your troops back?"

"Keep the SPARTANS." Captain Keyes said. "We'll take the marines. You'll need the SPARTANS for the rescue operation."

Commander Keyes nodded. "I agree. We'll return to transfer the Marines back on and head to Earth."

Riker nodded. "We could use the extra firepower."

The Keyes-es nodded and the communication ended.

"Mr. Data," Riker said. "How long would it take for the other two ships to reach us?"

"On an intercept course, nine minutes."

"Plot it."

"Aye."

Riker turned to Noble Team. "You are relieved of orders, Noble. Head to hangar bay two."

"Yes sir." Carter said. He turned and walked out of the bridge, teeth grinding.

* * *

_**End Ch. 14**_

_Well, now that my inspiration has been renewed, hopefully I'll update more often. I'll make it more of a point when I have nothing to do on my computer. Until next time, hopefully sooner rather than later!_


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